Hubble captures comet shattering

[Hum]

(CNN) -- NASA and the European Space agency have released new images from the Hubble Space Telescope showing the dramatic breakup of comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. The comet's nucleus has shattered into more than 33 pieces, and is likely to continue to disintegrate.

Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 goes around the sun every 5.4 years, and is on course to make the closest approach of this orbit on June 7. Along the way, it will pass 7.27 million miles (11.7 million kilometers) from Earth on May 12. No piece is projected to hit Earth.

The comet was discovered by German astronomers Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann in 1930. Astronomers observed its initial breakup into four pieces in 1995.

When comets get close to the sun, they heat up. Trapped gases inside the nucleus expand and sometimes explode out. Particularly energetic "jets" of gas can blow a comet apart, or make it vulnerable to the forces of gravity as it passes by planets or the Sun.

source

[Orange]

Amazing picture :D

[KC]

Wow that is a pretty amazing picture; and do think that it will just keep going and going.

[Scudworth]

Wish they had a high res version posted. Would make a nifty WP

[Hum]

^ Highest resolution I could find here, you could adapt it to w/p: :yes:

http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2006/18...rmats/print.jpg

[Hum]

;) As per Scudworth's wish I came up this fairly decent (1111 x 1092) wallpaper:

Yes, colorized -- I've no idea what color a comet in deep Space would be, so I added blue, cuz it looks cool. Maybe an actual comet is a dull white-on-black. You could colorize it to something else, as you wish.