File:Hubble’s Observation of Comet C 2019 Y4 (ATLAS) on 23 April (49887376597).jpg

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Description	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 25 fragments of the comet on 23 April. The comet was first discovered in December 2019 by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) and its fragmentation was confirmed in April 2020. Credit: NASA, ESA, D. Jewitt (UCLA), Q. Ye (University of Maryland)
Date	28 April 2020, 12:14
Source	Hubble’s Observation of Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) on 23 April
Author	Hubble ESA

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This image was originally posted to Flickr by Hubble Space Telescope / ESA at https://flickr.com/photos/51268976@N08/49887376597. It was reviewed on 7 December 2020 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

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Image title	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 25 fragments of the comet on 23 April. The comet was first discovered in December 2019 by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) and its fragmentation was confirmed in April 2020.
Author	Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach
Source	ESA/Hubble
Credit/Provider	NASA, ESA, D. Jewitt (UCLA), Q. Ye (University of Maryland)
Short title	Hubble’s Observation of Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) on 23 April
Usage terms	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Date and time of data generation	19:00, 28 April 2020
JPEG file comment	Comets are one of the most legendary and opulent denizens of deep space. Their long tails are so mysterious looking, their sudden appearance so unpredictable, and their journey across the sky so ephemeral that they were once feared as omens of evil, pestilence, and war. These latest images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of the doomed comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), taken on April 20 and 23, 2020, provide the sharpest views yet that the comet's solid icy nucleus is breaking apart into as many as 30 pieces that are each roughly the size of a house. So, despite the name, ATLAS doesn't look like anything to be afraid of. The comet was discovered on December 29, 2019 by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) robotic astronomical survey system based in Hawaii. ATLAS' fragmentation was confirmed by amateur astronomer Jose de Queiroz, who was able to photograph around three pieces of the comet on April 11. Hubble has a front row seat, with its crisp resolution, to go looking for more pieces. And, astronomers weren't disappointed. Planetary experts know that the solid comet nucleus – the fountainhead of the glamorous tail – is a fragile agglomeration of ices and dust. However, astronomers don't know why some comets break apart like exploding aerial fireworks shells. Could it be due to the warming influence of the Sun as a comet enters the inner solar system, causing it to become unglued? Or could the icy nucleus spin up as it shoots out jets of warming gasses? This could cause it to fly apart. Though classified as "minor bodies" in our solar system family, comets and Earth's fate go back billions of years. A shower of comets may have irrigated the dry newborn Earth, bringing enough water for oceans. They may have seeded Earth with organic compounds, the precursors to life as we know it. A wayward comet may have struck the Earth 65 million years ago, creating such an environmental disaster that the dinosaurs became extinct. This was good news for small mammals, our earliest ancestors, to take over the blue planet.
Software used	Adobe Photoshop 21.1 (Macintosh)
File change date and time	12:14, 28 April 2020
Date metadata was last modified	14:14, 28 April 2020
Date and time of digitizing	00:03, 21 April 2020
Unique ID of original document	xmp.did:b7be8f44-a934-402e-ad38-893e89bf10ce
Keywords	C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)
Contact information	outreach@stsci.edu http://www.spacetelescope.org Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2 Garching bei München, None, D-85748 Germany 410-338-4444
IIM version	4

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