The breakup was one of very few comet breakups seen from historical times by the 1970s. Recently, comets Shoemaker-Levy 9, Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 (73/P), C/1999 S4 LINEAR, and 57/P du Toit-Neujmin-Delporte, have been seen to disintegrate. When seen, many were stunned, but none more so than the discoverer, Richard Martin West. The comet broke into pieces when some distance from the sun. It exploded into four pieces, and those were scattered. Later, two pieces were spotted, and studied intently by astronomers.