                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2023 September 3
    A fuzzy comet is shown in gray on the upper left against a dark space
    background. The comet's tail extends diagnonally to the lower right.
   The main part of the comet is seen broken up into many trailing pieces.
          Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                   Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 Fragments
     Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (JHU / APL), M. Mutchler and Z. Levay
                                   (STScI)

   Explanation: Periodic comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 has broken up at
   least twice. A cosmic souffle of ice and dust left over from the early
   solar system, this comet was first seen to split into several large
   pieces during the close-in part of its orbit in 1995. However, in the
   2006 passage, it disintegrated into dozens of fragments that stretched
   several degrees across the sky. Since comets are relatively fragile,
   stresses from heat, gravity and outgassing, for example, could be
   responsible for their tendency to break up in such a spectacular
   fashion when they near the hot Sun. The Hubble Space Telescope
   recorded, in 2006, the featured sharp view of prolific Fragment B,
   itself trailing a multitude of smaller pieces, each with its own
   cometary coma and tail. The picture spans over 3,000 kilometers at the
   comet's distance of 32 million kilometers from planet Earth.

                       Tomorrow's picture: star bursts
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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