Basically i would just create a spherical orb type object resembling a planet in maya, find a nice picture of the stars and place it in the background, then find on the web somewhere, premade video footage of an explosion that has a so called blue background then by using after FX, i would place the footage of the explosion behind the footage of the planet and use the shatter effect under the simulation to bring it all together.

Life is the art of making movies without editing