The longest-studied comets in our solar system have inspired ancient myths, religious fervor and modern scientific controversies. Now, the discovery of 88 asteroids and meteoroids orbitally aligned with one of them, Comet Encke, suggests that.
In 1908, a small asteroid exploded in the atmosphere over the Tunguska River in Russia, devastating a 1200-square-mile area. In 1978, Slovak astronomer Ľubor Kresák proposed that the asteroid was a fragment of Comet Encke, a periodic comet that orbits the Sun every 3.3 years and is part of the group responsible for the annual. Read more »
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