The Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet just before colliding with Jupiter

Caption NASA originale:"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 HST images to be "pearls" strung out along the comet's orbital path.
In July of 1994 these pieces collided with Jupiter in a rare and spectacular series of events".