A periodic comet, 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, will make another close approach to earth in mid-May, and people are likely to be able to see it with their naked eye, a Chinese scientist said.

The major part of Comet 73P, whose appearance resembles a dandelion, is expected to be 10 million kilometers from the earth, on May 12, said Wang Sichao, a researcher with the Purple Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The comet, discovered by A. Schwassmann and A. A. Wachmann of Germany's Hamburg Observatory on May 2, 1930, had split into three fragments on its last return in 1995.

Latest observations show that the comet has split into 40 fragments, which will pass above the earth in the form of a pearl necklace in mid-May, Wang said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2006)