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Space

Distant comet cracks into two halves after being heated by the sun

A fragmentation event has given astronomers a new way to study a comet from the outer reaches of the solar system

By Jonathan O’Callaghan

24 June 2023

The two parts of comet C/2018 F4

Comet C/2018 F4 split in two and now the halves are moving away from each other

Hui et al.

A comet from the distant reaches of our solar system has been observed splitting in two as it made its way past the sun.

Comet C/2018 F4, initially discovered in 2018, was seen by amateur astronomers breaking into two pieces in September 2020, but what precisely happened was unknown. Man-To Hui at the Macau University of Science and Technology in China and his colleagues have now taken a closer look using several telescopes around…

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