Shattering Find? Comet fragments show surprising uniformity

When comets pass close to the sun, solar radiation can bake and chemically alter their outer layers. Yet new observations of fragments of a comet that broke apart almost in front of astronomers’ eyes suggest that its interior was remarkably similar to its exterior.

COMET CHIP. Fragment B of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, observed last spring with the Hubble Space Telescope.