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Comet C/2007 Q3 (SIDING-SPRING)  -  19 maart. 2010

On Wednesday Astronomy Now's,  Nick Howes revealed images that suggest Comet C2007 Q3 Siding Spring is in the process of breaking up. The Antares-team can confirm as well the breaking up with an image that was taking on  march 19.397 UT 2010, image was taken by Erik Bryssinck of the Antares-team with the RC16” telescope of Tzec-Maun.org in full resolution.

Image of splitting up of comet C/2007 Q3 (Siding Springs)

secundary component has a distance the nucleus of 5.5 arc.sec. with p.a. 258.3 degr.

Data obtained from 8 images of 240 sec. exposuretime.

Observed on march 19.397 UT 2010 by Erik Bryssinck with remote 0.4-m telescope Ritchey-Chretien of Tzec Maun observatory New-Mexico (MPC:H10) @ Pixelresolution of 0.5 arc.sec.

Right now Comet C2007 Q3 Siding Spring is heading out of the Solar System, never to return. "Its passage through the inner Solar System has put it on a hyperbolic orbit, which means it will never return but will escape into interstellar space", Fitzsimmons tells Astronomy Now
"If the fragment survives the next few weeks it may also make it out there, in which case it will be just another small inert piece of ice and dust between the stars".

Erik Bryssinck,  Antares - Belgium