Stardust
April 30, 2006
…of a kind. Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 is falling apart (as it has been since ‘95, when its nucleus split in four). Check out this one-minute video, an animation created from Hubble Space Telescope stills, as the comet sheds some more of its interior on its inward swing toward the sun. (Its period is about five and a half years.)
…And no, it’s coming nowhere near us. The calved-off chunks will be passing Earth at something like seven million miles’ distance.
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May 2nd, 2006 at 8:01 am
Hi,
I dont know if this is something i’m doing or if its my laptop crying for help but i cant open the clip. Kind of cool how long its been happening for. I mean in a way its just amazing how long it is taking to break up! Love to learn about stars etc but never found a night course round here that does it
Fox