Breaking Up?

Comet ISON streaks ever-closer to the Sun in this November 19 image, snapped through a small telescope in Huntsville, Alabama. Observations by astronomers in Germany suggest that the comet shed a large chunk last week, expelling vast amounts of gas and dust into space and making the comet much brighter. ISON could continue to shed large amounts of material as it moves toward its Thanksgiving Day encounter with the Sun, and could even disintegrate under the intense heat and gravitational stresses. [NASA/MSFC/Aaron Kingery]