A Dying Comet Passes Earth
Created | Updated May 18, 2006
Astronomers say that comets are deep-frozen relics of the early solar system, consisting of porous and fragile mixes of dust and ice. In other words, they're 'dirty snowballs'.
Amateur and professional astronomers around the world who are tracking the rare and spectacular disintegration of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 will have observed the dying comet on 12 May when it passes closest to the Earth. It is classed as 'dying' because the constant gravitational forces are pulling it apart. It began disintegrating in 1995 and it will eventually disperse. It is a rare event that a comet is being torn apart due to the gravitational pull of solar-system objects. The last time such a thing happened (and the first time such an event was witnessed by humankind), Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was torn to pieces when it bypassed Jupiter in 1992, before plunging into Jupiter's atmosphere two orbits later, in 1994. The impacts each fragment made in Jupiter's gaseous atmosphere were the size of the Earth.
The comet will be visible to observers with binoculars or a telescope. The comet trail will be seen near the constellation Hercules. This is an unprecedented opportunity to study the demise of a comet nucleus. It is of great excitement to those who study the solar system and helps one realise that the solar system is not a boring place.
The death of the comet can be likened to a champagne cork popping and the sparkling wine shooting outwards. It will be quite beautiful and no-one knows whether the comet will survive this trip around our Sun for a last-gasp orbit of the Solar System. It is due to swing around the Sun on 7 June.
In bygone times, comets foretold doom and gloom (there's one in the Bayeux Tapestry). For those of you who like Doomsday prophecies, here is one just for you: The Day of Destiny. The prediction of a mega tsunami, created by a 'possible' impact of a fragment of the comet plunging into the Atlantic Ocean on 25 May1, by Eric Julian, (the former Director of US-based Exopolitics Institute), elevates him to the status of a modern-day Nostradamus. Mr Julien, who claims that he has had communications and physical contacts with alien beings, is writing a book about his experiences with them.
