NASA – NASA Satellites Observe Comet’s Trail
There will be no tsunamis, firestorms or mass extinctions to spoil your Memorial Day weekend.
Image right:This infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows the broken Comet skimming along a trail of debris left during its multiple trips around the sun. On the lower right lies the Ring Nebula, coincidentally in the same direction as the cometary fragment.
Despite speculation that Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 will strike the Earth on May 25, neither the main comet nor any of its more than 40 fragments pose a danger to Earth.“We are very well acquainted with the trajectory of Comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann 3,” said Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office. “There is absolutely no danger to people on the ground or the inhabitants of the International Space Station, as the main body of the object and any pieces from the breakup will pass many millions of miles beyond the Earth.”
However, you can see the comet falling apart right before your very eyes, thanks to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Swift X-Ray and Spitzer Space Telescope.
Click on the Space Rocks page for an animated preview of the next large comet impact.