The Great Comet that Might Be

As reported in my previous blog entry, I have been imaging a new comet, C/2019 Y4 ATLAS for the last few evenings, and have been following the reports of rapid brightening (up to 600x brighter than original predictions) of the comet. This has produced a lot of fanfare with the expectation (hope) that in mid-May, ATLAS could rival Comet West which was a splendid morning comet back in 1976. It seems to be following the same orbit as the great comet of 1844.

Well folks, it looks like there is trouble in River City!  Recent observations have indicated that ATLAS may be breaking up, or fragmenting.

In a recent Astronomical Telegram, astronomers Quanzhi Ye (University of Maryland) and Qicheng Zhang (Caltech) report that photographs taken on April 2nd and April 5th of the comet revealed a marked change in the appearance of its core or pseudo-nucleus from starlike and compact to elongated and fuzzy. A second team of astronomers led by I. A. Steele (Liverpool John Moores University) confirmed the discovery. This change in appearance is "consistent with a sudden decline or cessation of dust production, as would be expected from a major disruption of the nucleus," wrote Zhang and Ye. (as reported by Astronomy Magazine).

See the article in Sky & Telescope for details.

I will, of course, be following the news about ATLAS, and imaging it once the weather clears here in Maryland. My image (from April 2nd) shows a well formed nucleus (similar to the image above/left).

Stay tuned ...