Comet ATLAS Fade Between April 20th and April 23rd Observations

This animation dissolves between two Hubble Space Telescope photos of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), taken on April 20 and 23, 2020. Hubble provides the sharpest views yet of the breakup of the solid nucleus of the comet, identifying as many as 30 separate fragments. Hubble distinguishes pieces that are roughly the size of a house. Before the breakup, the entire nucleus may have been the length of one or two football fields. Comets are fragile as ancient, loose agglomerations of ices and dust. Astronomers aren't sure why this comet came apart. The comet was approximately 91 million miles (146 million kilometers) from Earth when the images were taken.