Hubble image archive
C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) - April 20, 2020 and April 23, 2020
This pair of Hubble Space Telescope images of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), taken on April 20 and April 23, 2020, provide the sharpest views yet of the breakup of the solid nucleus of the comet. Hubble's eagle-eye view identifies as many as 30 separate fragments.Hubble distinguishes p...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2020
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2020-28-4654-image
This pair of Hubble Space Telescope images of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), taken on April 20 and April 23, 2020, provide the sharpest views yet of the breakup of the solid nucleus of the comet. Hubble's eagle-eye view identifies as many as 30 separate fragments.
Hubble distinguishes pieces that are roughly the size of a house. Before the breakup, the entire nucleus of the comet may have been the length of one or two football fields. Astronomers aren't sure why this comet broke apart. The comet was approximately 91 million miles (146 million kilometers) from Earth when the images were taken.
Credits
NASA, ESA, STScI, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) |
| Object Description | Fragmented comet |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from program (D. Jewitt) |
| Instrument | WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | April 20, 2020, April 23, 2020 |
| Filters | F350LP |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | 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 blue to a monochromatic (grayscale) image. |
More Images From This Period
Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov