The little comet that might

[tfwthom]

From May 2006 Astronomy mag:<br /><br />"The little comet that might" — Uncertainty about how bright Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 will be makes it a must-watch object this spring. This comet rides high in the northern sky and peaks in brightness during May and June. At its closest, May 13, Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 cruises less than 7 million miles (11.3 million km) from Earth.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

One interesting tidbit about 73P: it exploded about a decade ago. A lot of the uncertainty about it its flyby stems from this event. Three large fragments should be visible in modest telescopes; more powerful scopes may spot other fragments that have since been detected. It will also be watched by major observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope. There is a small chance it may be accompanied by a violent meteor shower, although most scientists feel any debris cloud from the explosion will not have expanded enough to graze Earth during the flyby. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>