Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 will be passing closer to Earth than any other comet in more than twenty years. Scientists will be able to watch a comet as it goes through its last stage of its existence-its break-up.

In 1995, Comet 73P’s nucleus, or center, broke up into at least three pieces. It was 150 million miles away at the time, and not to easy to view. Now over thirty smaller fragments can be seen. The small fragments are not as bright as a full-sized comet would be. Sometimes they are called mini-comets and look like a string of pearls in the sky.

The comet reaches perihelion, its closest point to the sun on June 6th, passing just inside of the orbit of Earth. Between May 12 and May 28th the comet and its many fragments will be at their closest point to Earth. On May 12th, 13th, and 14th the comet will pass Earth at its closest point of 6 million miles away. That’s about 25 times farther away than the moon. On those days, the fragments will pass through the background constellations of Cygnus (the Swan) in the Summer Triangle and Pegasus (the Winged Horse) that are visible well after midnight in the early mornings hours until dawn. Use binoculars to view the string of pearls passing through the sky.

Remember, meteor showers occur when Earth passes through the trail of a comet. The dusty debris a comet leaves behind heats up and glows as it hits Earth’s atmosphere. A meteor shower may result from this dying comet too. This year, the debris will probably be too far away to run into Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists predict in the future, a meteor shower will occur as a result of 73P by 2022. It will probably be a minor, or small, meteor shower. A strong meteor shower may occur periodically as the pieces continue to break apart.