<p>In a never-seen-before incident in the asteroid belt, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has recorded break-up of an asteroid into as many as 10 smaller pieces.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"This is a rock, and seeing it fall apart before our eyes is pretty amazing," said David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles.<br /><br />The crumbling asteroid, named 'P/2013 R3', was first noticed as an unusual, fuzzy-looking object late last year.<br /><br />A follow-up observation revealed three bodies moving together in an envelope of dust nearly the diameter of earth.<br /><br />"With its superior resolution, space telescope observations showed there were really 10 embedded objects, each with comet-like dust tails. The four largest rocky fragments are up to 400 yards in diameter, about four times the length of a football field," explained Jewitt.<br /><br />It is unlikely the asteroid is disintegrating because of a collision with another asteroid.<br /><br />This leaves a scenario in which the asteroid is disintegrating due to a subtle effect of sunlight, which causes the rotation rate of the asteroid to gradually increase.<br /><br />For this scenario to occur, 'P/2013 R3' must have a weak, fractured interior - probably as the result of numerous non-destructive collisions with other asteroids.<br /><br />The asteroid's remnant debris, weighing about 200,000 tonnes, would provide a rich source of meteoroids in the future.<br /><br />Most would eventually plunge into the sun, but a small fraction of the debris may one day blaze across the Earth's skies as meteors, scientists say.<br /></p>
<p>In a never-seen-before incident in the asteroid belt, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has recorded break-up of an asteroid into as many as 10 smaller pieces.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"This is a rock, and seeing it fall apart before our eyes is pretty amazing," said David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles.<br /><br />The crumbling asteroid, named 'P/2013 R3', was first noticed as an unusual, fuzzy-looking object late last year.<br /><br />A follow-up observation revealed three bodies moving together in an envelope of dust nearly the diameter of earth.<br /><br />"With its superior resolution, space telescope observations showed there were really 10 embedded objects, each with comet-like dust tails. The four largest rocky fragments are up to 400 yards in diameter, about four times the length of a football field," explained Jewitt.<br /><br />It is unlikely the asteroid is disintegrating because of a collision with another asteroid.<br /><br />This leaves a scenario in which the asteroid is disintegrating due to a subtle effect of sunlight, which causes the rotation rate of the asteroid to gradually increase.<br /><br />For this scenario to occur, 'P/2013 R3' must have a weak, fractured interior - probably as the result of numerous non-destructive collisions with other asteroids.<br /><br />The asteroid's remnant debris, weighing about 200,000 tonnes, would provide a rich source of meteoroids in the future.<br /><br />Most would eventually plunge into the sun, but a small fraction of the debris may one day blaze across the Earth's skies as meteors, scientists say.<br /></p>