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73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3

73P

73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 is a comet with a short orbital period of about 5.4 years. In 1995, this comet began to disintegrate into several large pieces. AKARI detected fragments designated as C and B of 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 during the 9 μm All-Sky Survey in May and July 2006. There are differences in their tail structures as fragments C and B show different degrees of activity. The green square is the estimated location of fragment G, however, it was not detected.

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