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Comet LINEAR Shatters Into Shower of Mini-Comets

Comet LINEAR Shatters Into Shower of Mini-Comets

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    On August 5, 2000 the comet was at a distance of 64 million miles (102 million km) from Earth.

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    Principal Astronomers: Comet LINEAR investigation team: H. Weaver and P. Feldman (JHU), M. A'Hearn (Univ. of Maryland), C. Arpigny (Liege Univ.), J. Bauer (Univ. of Hawaii), M. Combi (Univ. of Michigan), J. Davies (Joint Astronomy Centre), M. Festou (Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees), M. Keesey (JPL), P. Lamy (Laboratoire d'Astronomie Spatiale), C. Lisse (STScI), B. Marsden (SAO), K. Meech (Univ. of Hawaii), Z. Sekanina (JPL) , I. Toth (Konkoly Observatory) , G.-P. Tozzi (Arcetri Observatory), D. Yeomans (JPL).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>WFPC2
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    August 5, 2000, Exposure Time: 1.7 hours
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F675W (R)
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Comet LINEAR (Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research); C/1999 S4
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Comet
  • Release Date
    August 7, 2000
  • Science Release
    Hubble Discovers Missing Pieces of Comet Linear
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Science Release Credit: NASA, Harold Weaver (the Johns Hopkins University), the HST Comet LINEAR Investigation Team, and the University of Hawaii

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Related Images & Videos

Hubble Sees Mini-comet Fragments from Comet Linear

Hubble Sees Mini-comet Fragments from Comet Linear

[lower right] In one stunning Hubble picture the fate of the mysteriously vanished solid nucleus of Comet LINEAR has been settled. The Hubble picture shows that the comet nucleus has been reduced to a shower of glowing "mini-comets" resembling the fiery fragments from an...

Comet Linear - C/1999 S4

Comet Linear - C/1999 S4

Armada of Mini-Comets From Shattered Comet LINEAR

Armada of Mini-Comets From Shattered Comet LINEAR

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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