Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . The comet at first appeared to disintegrate completely, but scientists revised their interpretation after viewing the latest Hubble images. Though comets have been known to break apart and vanish before, this is the first time astronomers are getting a close-up view of the dismantling of a comet's nucleus due to solar warming. Hubble was able to magnify the comet and measure the rapid increase in brightness as it erupted even though the comet was 74 million miles away from the Earth's surface.
Eruptions increase in frequency the closer comets get to the sun.
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