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Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
Despite rumors spreading across the Internet, NASA says the Earth will safe from a broken comet on May 25. The Hubble space telescope took this photo of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, which has broken into about 40 pieces. The comet and its pieces are expected to pass within 5.5 million miles from the Earth between May 12 and May 28. That's 20 times the distance from the Earth to the moon. It will be visible on small telescopes.
April 28, 2006 7:44 AM PDT
Photo by: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (APL/JHU), M. Mutchler and Z. Levay (STScI)
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