Number 127 (Story #5), May 5, 1993 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein A COMETARY BREAKUP into at least 18 fragments has been imaged by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey. The strung-out trail of objects, whose icy facets brilliantly reflect the Sun's light, was photographed near Jupiter, where gravitational forces may have ripped apart a passing comet that got too close. (Science News, 10 April 1993.)