Comet G3 ATLAS Disintegrates

Explanation: What's happening to Comet G3 ATLAS? After passing near the Sun in mid-January, the head of the comet has become dimmer and dimmer. By late January, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) had become a headless wonder -- even though it continued to show impressive tails after sunset in the skies of Earth 's Southern Hemisphere . Pictured are images of Comet G3 ATLAS on successive January nights taken from Río Hurtado , Chile . Clearly, the comet's head is brighter and more centrally condensed on the earlier days (left) than on later days (right). A key reason is likely that the comet's nucleus of ice and rock , at the head 's center, has fragmented . Comet G3 ATLAS passed well inside the orbit of planet Mercury when at its solar closest, a distance that where heat destroys many comets . Some of comet G3 ATLAS' scattering remains will continue to orbit the Sun .

Gallery: Comet G3 ATLAS