> By John Johnson Jr., Times Staff Writer April 29, 2006
Astronomers are getting a close-up view of the death throes of a comet as it passes Earth and enters the inner solar system.
Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 has broken into more than 40 fragments as it speeds toward a swing around the sun June 6, NASA said Thursday.
The main fragment will come closest to Earth on May 12, when it will be visible to ground observers.
None of the comet's pieces will come close to hitting Earth, NASA said. The closest fragment will pass at a distance of 5.5 million miles — more than 20 times the distance from Earth to the moon.
'There is absolutely no danger to people on the ground,' said Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program. "
posted by Gary Williams at 11:48 AM
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