News Astronomy

Comet LINEAR: Breaking up isn’t hard to do

By Ron Cowen

- More than 2 years ago

Split personality: Comet LINEAR brightened as it erupted, ejecting a chunk of crust. Weaver et al./NASA

Hubble image taken Aug. 5 shows the shattered comet’s pieces. Weaver et al./NASA

It took some 4 billion years for Comet LINEAR-S4 to leave its icy home far beyond Pluto and journey to the inner solar system.