The breakup of the solid nucleus of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). (IMAGE)

Royal Astronomical Society

The breakup of the solid nucleus of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS).

Caption

Hubble Space Telescope image of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), taken on April 20 2020, providing the sharpest view to date of the breakup of the solid nucleus of the comet. Hubble's eagle-eye view identifies as many as 30 separate fragments, and 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. The comet was approximately 91 million miles (146 million kilometres) from Earth when the image was taken.

Credit

NASA / ESA / STScI / D. Jewitt (UCLA)

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