Asteroid P/2013 R3 Falls Apart: Rare Hubble Space Telescope Photos

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Asteroid P/2013 R3 Breaking Up: Part 1

NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (University of California, Los Angeles)

This series of Hubble Space Telescope photos captures a rare event in action, the breakup of asteroid P/2013 R3 as it happened in 2013 and 2014. HERE: This photo from Hubble shows the rare sight of the asteroid P/2013 R3 breaking apart. This image, the first in a series, was taken on Oct. 29, 2013. [Read the Full Story and See Video of the Asteroid Breakup]

Asteroid P/2013 R3 Breaking Apart

NASA, ESA, D. Jewitt (UCLA)

This series of images shows the asteroid P/2013 R3 breaking apart, as viewed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in 2013. This is the first time that such a body has been seen to undergo this kind of break-up. This image was released March 6, 2014. [Read the Full Story and See Video of the Asteroid Breakup]

Asteroid P/2013 R3 Breaking Up: Part 2

NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (University of California, Los Angeles)

This photo from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the rare sight of the asteroid P/2013 R3 breaking apart. This image, the second in a series, was taken on Nov. 15, 2013. Image released March 6, 2014. [Read the Full Story and See Video of the Asteroid Breakup]

Asteroid P/2013 R3 Breaking Up: Part 3

NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (University of California, Los Angeles)

This photo from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the rare sight of the asteroid P/2013 R3 breaking apart. This image, the third in a series, was taken on Dec. 13, 2013. Image released March 6, 2014. [Read the Full Story and See Video of the Asteroid Breakup]

Asteroid P/2013 R3 Breaking Up: Part 4

NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (University of California, Los Angeles)

This photo from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the rare sight of the asteroid P/2013 R3 breaking apart. This image, the fourth in a series, was taken on Jan. 14, 2014. Image released March 6, 2014. [Read the Full Story and See Video of the Asteroid Breakup]

Disintegrating Asteroid P/2013 R3 Illustration

NASA, ESA, D. Jewitt (UCLA), and A. Feild (STScI)

This illustration shows one possible explanation for the disintegration of asteroid P/2013 R3. [Read the Full Story and See Video of the Asteroid Breakup]

Icon in Space

NASA

Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope, now in its 24th year in orbit, to see asteroid P/2013 R3 breaking apart in 2013 and 2014.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.