[meteorite-list] Comet Outburst from C/2006 M4 (SWAN)

[Ron Baalke]

Space Weather News for Oct. 25, 2006
http://spaceweather.com

COMET OUTBURST:  Astronomers report that Comet Swan has suddenly 
increased in brightness 4-fold, from magnitude +6 to +4.5.  This 
makes it a naked-eye object in dark skies and a lovely sight 
through backyard telescopes.  The cause of the outburst:  A new 
vein of volatile ice may have opened up in the comet's nucleus. 
Solar heating transforms this freshly-exposed material into 
streams of bright, reflective gas and dust. Indeed, backyard 
telescopes seem to show new tendrils of gaseous material in the 
comet's long tail.

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