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Comet ATLAS

bright comet fragments followed by tail in red

Breakup of Comet ATLAS

This pair of Hubble Space Telescope images of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), taken on April 20 and April 23, 2020, reveal the breakup of the solid nucleus of the comet. Hubble photos identify as many as 30 separate fragments. The comet was approximately 91 million miles from Earth when the images were taken. The comet may be a broken off piece of a larger comet that swung by the Sun 5,000 years ago. The comet has been artificially colored in this view to enhance details for analysis.

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    At the time of observations, the comet was 1.11 AU from Earth (103 million miles).

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    The HST observations include those from program 16111 (D. Jewitt)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    WFC3/UVIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    20 April 2020, 23 April 2020
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F350LP
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Fragmented comet
  • Release Date
    August 19, 2021
  • Science Release
    Comet ATLAS May Have Been a Blast from the Past
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, Quanzhi Ye (UMD); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Downloads

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bright comet fragments followed by tail in red
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The color results from assigning the color red to a monochromatic (grayscale) image.

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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