July 13, 1995
The light from the farthest visible stars set out on its journey long before your first birthday.
A String Of Pearls
Birthday · July 13, 1995
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
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APOD published July 13, 1995. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
July 13, 1995 A String Of Pearls Picture Credit: NASA, Hubble Space Telescope (courtesy of H. Weaver) Explanation: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, named after its co-discoverers, was often referred to as the "string of pearls" comet. It is famous for its unusual appearance as well as its collision with the planet Jupiter! The comet's original single nucleus was torn to pieces by Jupiter's strong gravity during a close encounter with the solar system's largest planet in 1992. The pieces are seen in this composite of Hubble Space Telescope images to be "pearls" strung out along the comet's orbital path. In July of 1994 these pieces collided with Jupiter in a unique and spectacular series of events. For more information about the picture see the Split Comet Studies Page. We keep an archive of Astronomy Pictures of the Day. Astronomy Picture of the Day is brought to you by Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell . Original material on this page is copyrighted to Robert J. Nemiroff and Jerry T. Bonnell.