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    Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) tagged posts

    Comet -ATLAS may have been a Blast from the Past

    August 20, 2021, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Comet ATLAS may have been a blast from the past
    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. Credit: NASA, ESA, Quanzhi Ye (UMD), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

    It’s suspected that about 5,000 years ago a comet may swept within 23 million miles of the Sun, closer than the innermost planet Mercury...

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    Hubble captures Breakup of Comet ATLAS

    April 29, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has provided astronomers with the sharpest view yet of the breakup of Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). The telescope resolved roughly 30 fragments of the fragile comet on 20 April and 25 pieces on 23 April.

    The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has provided astronomers with the sharpest view yet of the breakup of Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). The telescope resolved roughly 30 fragments of the fragile comet on 20 April and 25 pieces on 23 April.

    The comet was first discovered in December 2019 by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) robotic astronomical survey system in Hawaiʻi, USA...

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