NASA and the European Agency recently released new images from the Hubble Space Telescope showing the startling breakup of Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (SW3). The comet's nucleus broke into more than 33 pieces and most likely, will continue to disintegrate in the coming weeks. European astronomers captured still images through an instrument aboard the Hubble called the Advanced Camera for Surveys.

The comet, discovered by German astronomers Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann in 1930 has been under observation by astronomers because of its initial breakup into four pieces in 1995. The comet 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 from Earth on May 12. No piece is projected to hit Earth. This is not the first comet astronomers have watched shatter. If you could remember Shoemaker-Levy 9 was ripped to pieces by the gravity of the planet Jupiter in July 1992, made a final pass around the sun, and then slammed into Jupiter's atmosphere nearly two years later.