Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Solar system body or event
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Comet C/2019 Y4 Atlas, Hap Griffin
Comet C/2019 Y4 Atlas
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Comet C/2019 Y4 Atlas

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Comet C/2019 Y4 Atlas, Hap Griffin
Comet C/2019 Y4 Atlas
Powered byPixInsight

Comet C/2019 Y4 Atlas

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Description

This image is a stack of 16 three minute exposures aligned on the comet's nucleus to show detail in the comet itself, so the background stars appear as streaks since the comet is moving rapidly over the course of the 50 minutes it took to capture it. The comet's nucleus is estimated to be around 10 km in radius although the gas and dust cloud surrounding it is nearly half the size of the Sun. Y4 was predicted to continue to brighten, becoming bright enough to see with the naked eye around May 8, 2020. Unfortunately, shortly after this image was taken, the comet broke apart and faded rapidly.

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Comet C/2019 Y4 Atlas, Hap Griffin