On July 27th astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, quickly reprogrammed Hubble to search for the missing comet. Astronomer Hal Weaver said he was stunned when he first saw the Hubble image. They looked like a shower of glowing fireballs from fireworks. Other comets make a trip around the sun much more often. But on each trip they lose material as the sun heats and melts them.
Astronomers believe that most comets eventually just disintegrate and disappear.