PAN-STARRS - A peculiar development for a comet

Posted on spaceweather.com this morning is a peculiar set of photographs showing what appears to be a “fragment” coming off the comet.  Now last time I checked the rules of physics, fragments fall off…and fall behind.  At the very least, they do not generally remain in locked orbit with an object the size of a comet and if they do, would they not display a tail of their own, much like the comet’s main body?  It’s a little weird.  Is it a spaceship?  Probably not.  An weird new space thing…quite likely.  Pasting in the full text as it changes daily.
_________________________________________dated: 16 March 2013

IS COMET PAN-STARRS FRAGMENTING? Veteran astrophotographer Peter Rosen has been monitoring Comet Pan-STARRS, and his latest images obtained on March 15th seem to show a fragment emerging from the nucleus. It is the speck just below and to the right of the comet’s head:

“It is visible also in two or three other image stacks,” says Rosen. He notes how the stars in the image are trailed, but the apparent fragment is not. “It seems to follow the comet, not the stars. A plane passed through the field of view during the exposure, making a red streak through the comet’s tail.”

“The colorful image is a frequency modulation that increases the contrast and clearly shows the fragment as a dark dot below the nucleus,” he continues. “I hope this splitting can be confirmed or refuted soon by other observers.”

For casual sky watchers: A growing number of people are reporting that they can see Comet Pan-STARRS with the naked eye. Best estimates place the magnitude of the comet at +0.2, about twice as bright as a 1st magnitude star. As the comet moves away from the sun, its visibility is improving, which means you might be able to see it in the nights ahead. Step outside about an hour after sunset and look west:sky map.