Comet ATLAS Breaks Up
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Milen Minev (Bulgarian Inst. of Astronomy and
NAO Rozhen),
Velimir Popov,
Emil Ivanov (Irida Observatory)
Cruising through
the inner solar system, Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) has apparently
fragmented.
Multiple separate condensations within its diffuse coma are visible in
this telescopic close-up
from April 12, composed of
frames tracking the comet's motion against trailing background stars.
Discovered at the end of December 2019, this comet ATLAS showed a
remarkably rapid increase in brightness in late March.
Northern hemisphere
comet watchers held out hope
that it would become a bright naked-eye comet as it
came closer to Earth in late April and May.
But fragmenting ATLAS
is slowly
fading
in northern skies.
The breakup of comets is not uncommon though.
This comet ATLAS is in an orbit similar to the
Great Comet of 1844
(C/1844 Y1)
and both may be fragments of a single larger comet.