'Twin' Comets Hurtle Past Earth
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Astronomers are observing a twin comet flyby Monday.
NASA says these two comets could be interplanetary twins. That means the smaller one may be a fragment that broke off the bigger one, literally torn apart by the gravitational pull of a large planet like Jupiter.
The smaller comet, P/2016 BA14m was discovered two months ago. It was initially thought to be an asteroid.
Its larger twin, Comet 252P/LINEAR, made its closest approach to Earth at 9:15 a.m. Monday, when it passed about 3.2 million miles from Earth, or about 14 times the distance to the moon. It's the fifth-closet comet pass ever recorded.
The smaller comet will follow suit on Tuesday at a distance of about 2.2 million miles at 4:30 a.m.
It'll be the third closest comet flyby in recorded history.