Comet ATLAS is Breaking Up

Apparently, breaking up is not hard to do (sorry Neil), at least not when it comes to comets. With the hopes that Comet ATLAS would be the comet of the 20's, this recent news from the Virtual Telescope Project 2.0 makes that pretty unlikely.

After a number of observations of the inner coma of this comet, the team(s) at VTP observed at least three fragments, telling the comet really experienced a breakup event. Here is the telltale image.

What this all means for what may lie in the future is anyone's guess. Could the remaining larger piece still produce a naked-eye visual object with or without a tail? Maybe. But in the past such breakups have typically been dire news for any memorable visual event.

More updates to follow.