C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) - Wikipedia

Non-periodic comet For other comets discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, see Comet ATLAS (disambiguation). C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)

C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) imaged on March 14, 2020
Discovery
Discovery site	ATLAS–MLO
Discovery date	December 28, 2019
Designations
MPC designation	C/2019 Y4-A C/2019 Y4-B C/2019 Y4-C C/2019 Y4-D C/2019 Y4-E
Alternative designations	A10j7UG
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch	March 7, 2020 (JD 2458915.5)
Observation arc	115 days
Number ofobservations	1,250
Aphelion	~660 AU
Perihelion	0.2528 AU
Semi-major axis	~330 AU
Eccentricity	0.99924
Orbital period	~4,800 years (inbound)~5,200 years (outbound)
Inclination	45.384°
Longitude ofascending node	120.57°
Argument ofperiapsis	177.41°
Last perihelion	31 May 2020
TJupiter	0.454
Earth MOID	0.631 AU
Jupiter MOID	1.394 AU
Physical characteristics[2]
Dimensions	0.4–1.0 km (0.25–0.62 mi)
Mean diameter	0.6 km (0.37 mi)
Comet totalmagnitude (M1)	9.9±0.9[1]
Comet nuclearmagnitude (M2)	13.1±0.7[1]
Apparent magnitude	7.0(2021 apparition)

C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) was a comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered by the ATLAS survey on December 28, 2019.[3] Early predictions based on the brightening rate suggested that the comet could become as bright as magnitude 0 matching the brightness of Vega.[4] It received widespread media coverage due to its dramatic increase in brightness and orbit similar to the Great Comet of 1844, but on 22 March 2020, the comet started disintegrating.[5][6] Such fragmentation events are very common for Kreutz Sungrazers. The comet continues to fade and did not reach naked eye visibility.[4] By mid-May, comet ATLAS appeared very diffuse even in a telescope. C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) has not been seen since 21 May 2020.[7]

C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) was the brightest on March 30 when it had an apparent magnitude of about 7, but after disintegrating, it continued to fade, until it was last observed on May 21. It is located in the constellation Monoceros but is no longer visible. It reached its nearest point to Earth on May 23 and come to perihelion (closest to the Sun) on May 31.

In April 2020, astronomers reported, on The Astronomer's Telegram, the possible disintegration of Comet ATLAS.[5][6][8] The comet has fragmented into at least 4 pieces.[9][10] NASA subsequently reported that the Hubble Space Telescope has identified that there could be as many as roughly "30 fragments on April 20, and 25 pieces on April 23."[11] The fragmentation may be the result of outgassing causing an increase in the centrifugal force of the comet. Subsequent observations from the Lowell Observatory between July and September 2020 failed to see any remnants of the comet, indicating that it either had completely disintegrated or the surviving fragments, estimated to be no larger than 0.25 km (0.16 mi) in radius, simply went inactive.[12]

The Solar Orbiter flew through the ion tail of comet ATLAS between May 31 and June 1 and the dust tail on June 6.[13][14]

Discovery

[edit]

Comet ATLAS was discovered on CCD images taken on December 28, 2019, with a 0.5 m (20 in) reflecting telescope atop Mauna Loa in Hawaii.[15] The images were taken as part of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). At the time of its discovery, the comet shone at magnitude 19.6 in the constellation Ursa Major as viewed from Earth.[16][17] Larry Denneau was the first to identify the object's cometary appearance,[16] placing the object on the Minor Planet Center's Possible Comet Confirmation Page, alerting other astronomers. Further observations over subsequent days identified a coma; a comet tail became increasingly apparent as observations continued.[15]

Initial observation and brightness

[edit]

Between the beginning of February and near the end of March, Comet ATLAS brightened from magnitude 17 to magnitude 8, representing a 4000-fold increase in brightness.[18] In March 2020, the comet's brightness increased four magnitudes.[17] C/2019 Y4's green or aqua colour arose from emissions of diatomic carbon with a 1.2° or 10' or 3.3 million km multicolour tail, more than twice as wide as the Sun. As a diffuse object, the comet would need to reach an apparent magnitude of around 3–4 to be obvious to the casual observer in a dark sky. A 4th magnitude comet in bright twilight is not very impressive nor obvious. In early April, the comet faded due to a significant fragmentation event.[19] On April 14, 2020, initial estimates of water production by the comet were reported, and found "a water production rate of 1.25×1028 +/− 5×1025 mol/sec within an aperture of 100,000 km".[20]

Orbit

[edit]

At the time of its discovery Comet ATLAS was nearly 3 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun.[17] The first orbital calculations for the comet were published on the Minor Planet Electronic Circular, and were based on observations taken between December 28, 2019, and January 9, 2020, which indicating a 4,400-year orbital period and a perihelion of 0.25 AU (37 million km). Similarities were noted between the orbital elements of C/2019 Y4 and the Great Comet of 1844 (C/1844 Y1), suggesting that C/2019 Y4 is a fragment of the same parent body, split about five thousands years ago.[21][22][15][23]

The JPL Small-Body Database using an epoch of February 18, 2020, shows C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) with an orbital period of approximately 6,000 years, but this solution includes misleading perturbations while inside of the planetary region. A more useful barycentric solution before the comet entered the planetary region shows an inbound orbital period of about 4,800 years.[24] The comet reached its nearest point to the Sun on May 31, 2020.[1] After leaving the planetary region, the comet will have an outbound orbital period of about 5,200 years.

The fragmentation of C/2019 Y4 in late March 2020,[22] has changed the velocities of the fragments by up to 10 meters/second (25000 km/month). This small change in velocity can cause a big change in the long-term orbital period of these near-parabolic fragments. The short observation arc of ~10 days for fragments D&E results in large uncertainties in the orbital periods. Fragment B was observed the longest. Fragment D may have come the closest to Earth but due to the short observation arc has an uncertainty of ±2 million km in the close approach distance.[25]

Orbital period of fragments

Fragment	Orbital period(years)	Closest Approachto Earth	obs arc(days)
C/2019 Y4-A	ejection[26]	0.7858 AU (117.55 million km)	27
C/2019 Y4-B	17200±2300[27]	0.7816 AU (116.93 million km)	40
C/2019 Y4-C	ejection[28]	0.7824 AU (117.05 million km)	26
C/2019 Y4-D	126±86[29]	0.7777 AU (116.34 million km)	8
C/2019 Y4-E	88±32[30]	0.7794 AU (116.60 million km)	6

Location

[edit]

During January to March 2020, the comet was located in the constellation of Ursa Major. Throughout the month of April, the comet was in the constellation of Camelopardalis. On May 12 it moved into Perseus. It was 0.78 AU (117 million km; 300 LD) from Earth on May 23 during a new moon when the comet was 17 degrees from the Sun. At its perihelion on May 31, it was in the Taurus constellation 12 degrees from the Sun.[31] Then, through June and July, it passed through Orion and Monoceros.

C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)Comet ATLAS's trajectory in the sky with 7-day markers. The retrograde loops are caused by parallax from Earth's annual motion around the Sun. The most movement occurs when the comet is closest to Earth.Animation of C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) imaged over 10 minutes on March 28, 2020C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) as imaged on April 8, 2020. Note its faded appearance resulting from its disintegration.

Gallery

[edit]

• This pair of NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), taken on April 20 and April 23, 2020, reveal the breakup of the solid nucleus of the comet.

References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
2. ^ D. C. Jewitt (2022). "Destruction of Long-period Comets". Astronomical Journal. 164 (4): 158–166. arXiv:2208.04469. Bibcode:2022AJ....164..158J. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac886d.
3. ^ Dickinson, David (February 25, 2020). "Comet Y4 Atlas in Outburst: First Good Comet for 2020?". Universe Today. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
4. ^ a b Seiichi Yoshida (April 14, 2020). "C/2019 Y4 ( ATLAS )". Retrieved April 17, 2020.
5. ^ a b Ye, Quanzhi; Zhang, Qicheng (April 6, 2020). "ATel #13620: Possible Disintegration of Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
6. ^ a b Steele, I.A.; Smith, R.J.; Marchantn, J. (April 6, 2020). "ATel #13622: C/2019 Y4 ATLAS – confirmation of nuclear change". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
7. ^ Ghosh, Trinankur. "Comet Observation database (COBS)". Retrieved April 9, 2020. (2019Y4 Chart) Archived May 2, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ Lin, Zhang-Yi; et al. (April 13, 2020). "ATel #13629: The fragmentation of comet C/2019 Y4 (Atlas) observed at Lulin observatory". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
9. ^ Philipp Keller (Astrooptik) RC 900mm F/10
10. ^ Ye, Quanzhi; Hui, Man-To (April 21, 2020). "ATel #13651: Continuing Fragmentation of C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
11. ^ C. Andreoli; R. Villard; D. C. Jewitt; Q. Z. Ye (April 28, 2020). "Hubble Watches Comet ATLAS Disintegrate Into More Than Two Dozen Pieces". www.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
12. ^ S. A. Cordova Quijano; Q. Z. Ye; M. S. P. Kelley (2026). "Disintegration of Long-period Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). II. Postperihelion Remnant Recovery". The Astronomical Journal. 171 (2): 70–74. arXiv:2512.01169. Bibcode:2026AJ....171...70C. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ae2450.
13. ^ "Solar Orbiter to pass through the tails of Comet ATLAS". May 29, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
14. ^ Wood, Anthony (May 29, 2020). "ESA'S Solar Orbiter set for unexpected rendezvous with Comet ATLAS". New Atlas. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
15. ^ a b c Green, Daniel W. E. (January 11, 2020). "COMET C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)". Liste de distribution des circulaires de l'Union Astronomique Internationale et du Minor Planet Center (Mailing list). Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
16. ^ a b "MPEC 2020-A112 : COMET C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)". minorplanetcenter.net. Minor Planet Electronic Circular. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Minor Planet Center. January 10, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
17. ^ a b c Ling, Alister (March 25, 2020). "Comet ATLAS may soon be visible to the naked eye". Astronomy. Kalmbach Media. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
18. ^ Yirka, Bob (March 23, 2020). "Comet ATLAS may put on quite a show". Phys.org. Science X Network. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
19. ^ "Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS): after an unexpected, a bit irregular, rising in brightness the comet is now fading". Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
20. ^ Venkataramani, Kumar; et al. (April 14, 2020). "ATel #13634: First Estimate of Water Production Rates of Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) from SWIFT/UVOT observations". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
21. ^ C. Andreoli (August 19, 2021). "Comet Atlas May Have Been a Blast From the Past". www.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
22. ^ a b M. T. Hui; Q. Z. Ye (2020). "Observations of Disintegrating Long-period Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS): A Sibling of C/1844 Y1 (Great Comet)". The Astronomical Journal. 160 (2): 91. arXiv:2004.10990. Bibcode:2020AJ....160...91H. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab9d81. S2CID 216080893.
23. ^ King, Bob (March 25, 2020). "Comet ATLAS: Will it Become a Naked-Eye Object?". Sky & Telescope. AAS Sky Publishing, LLC. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
24. ^ JPL Horizons barycentric solution for epoch 1950 (before entering planetary region) Goto JPL Horizons Ephemeris Type: Orbital Elements Center: @0 (Solar System Barycenter) Time Span: 1950-01-01 to 2050-01-01 and Step Size: 100 years 1950-Jan-01 is "PR= 1.76E+06 / 365.25 days" = 4818 years
25. ^ JPL Horizons Fragment D Table Setting "39. Range" for 2020-May-23 06:44
26. ^ JPL SBDB: C/2019 Y4-A
27. ^ JPL SBDB: C/2019 Y4-B
28. ^ JPL SBDB: C/2019 Y4-C
29. ^ JPL SBDB: C/2019 Y4-D
30. ^ JPL SBDB: C/2019 Y4-E
31. ^ J. Rao (March 16, 2020). "Newfound Comet ATLAS is getting really bright, really fast". Space.com. Retrieved March 21, 2020.

External links

[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS).

• C/2019 Y4 at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters
• C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) at Seiichi Yoshida's website
• C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) – Hubble image
• C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) – Fragments (20 April 2020) – Ye Quanzhi
• C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) elongated (16 May 2020) – Michael Jäger
• C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) approaching perihelion in STEREO HI-1 (25 May 2020) – Karl Battams

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Southern Comet of 1865) X/1872 X1 (Pogson's Comet) C/1874 H1 (Comet Coggia) C/1881 K1 (Comet Tebbutt) C/1882 R1 (Great Comet of 1882) C/1887 B1 (Great Southern Comet of 1887) C/1893 U1 (Brooks) C/1901 G1 (Great Comet of 1901) C/1907 G1 (Grigg–Mellish) C/1910 A1 (Great January Comet of 1910) C/1911 N1 (Kiess) C/1911 O1 (Brooks) C/1911 S3 (Beljawsky) C/1915 C1 (Mellish) C/1917 F1 (Mellish) C/1927 X1 (Skjellerup–Maristany) C/1931 P1 (Ryves) C/1936 O1 (Kaho–Kozik–Lis) C/1939 H1 (Jurlof–Achmarof–Hassel) C/1941 B2 (de Kock-Paraskevopoulos) C/1947 X1 (Southern Comet) C/1948 L1 (Honda–Bernasconi) C/1948 V1 (Eclipse) C/1956 R1 (Arend–Roland) C/1957 P1 (Mrkos) C/1961 O1 (Wilson-Hubbard) C/1961 R1 (Humason) C/1961 T1 (Seki) C/1962 C1 (Seki-Lines) C/1963 A1 (Ikeya) C/1963 R1 (Pereyra) C/1964 N1 (Ikeya) C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) C/1969 T1 (Tago-Sato-Kosaka) C/1969 Y1 (Bennett) C/1970 K1 (White–Ortiz–Bolelli) C/1973 E1 (Kohoutek) C/1975 T2 (Suzuki–Saigusa–Mori) C/1975 V1 (West) C/1979 Y1 (Bradfield) C/1980 E1 (Bowell) C/1983 H1 (IRAS–Araki–Alcock) C/1983 J1 (Sugano–Saigusa–Fujikawa) C/1989 W1 (Aarseth-Brewington) C/1989 X1 (Austin) C/1989 Y1 (Skorichenko–George) After 1990 C/1990 K1 (Levy) C/1992 J1 (Spacewatch–Rabinowitz) C/1993 Y1 (McNaught–Russell) C/1995 O1 (Hale–Bopp) C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) C/1997 L1 (Zhu–Balam) C/1998 H1 (Stonehouse) C/1998 J1 (SOHO) C/1999 F1 (Catalina) C/1999 H1 (Lee) C/1999 S4 (LINEAR) C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR) C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) C/2001 OG108 (LONEOS) C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) C/2002 V1 (NEAT) C/2004 F4 (Bradfield) C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) C/2006 A1 (Pojmański) C/2006 M4 (SWAN) C/2006 P1 (McNaught) C/2007 E2 (Lovejoy) C/2007 F1 (LONEOS) C/2007 N3 (Lulin) C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring) C/2007 W1 (Boattini) C/2009 F6 (Yi–SWAN) C/2009 R1 (McNaught) C/2010 X1 (Elenin) C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) C/2012 E2 (SWAN) C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) C/2012 K1 (PANSTARRS) C/2012 S1 (ISON) C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) C/2013 US10 (Catalina) C/2013 V5 (Oukaimeden) C/2014 E2 (Jacques) C/2014 Q1 (PanSTARRS) C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli–Bernstein) C/2015 ER61 (PanSTARRS) C/2015 V2 (Johnson) C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) 1I/2017 U1 ʻOumuamua C/2018 Y1 (Iwamoto) 2I/Borisov C/2019 U6 (Lemmon) C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) C/2020 F8 (SWAN) C/2021 A1 (Leonard) C/2022 E3 (ZTF) C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) C/2025 D1 (Gröller) After 1910(by name) Aarseth–Brewington Arend–Roland ATLAS C/2019 Y4 C/2024 G3 C/2024 S1 3I Austin Beljawsky Bennett Bernardinelli–Bernstein Boattini Borisov Bowell Bradfield C/1979 Y1 C/2004 F4 Brooks Catalina C/1999 F1 C/2013 US10 de Kock–Paraskevopoulos Eclipse Elenin Gröller Hale-Bopp Honda–Bernasconi Humason Hyakutake Ikeya C/1963 A1 C/1964 N1 Ikeya-Seki IRAS–Araki–Alcock ISON Iwamoto Jacques Johnson Jurlof–Achmarof–Hassel Kaho–Kozik–Lis Kiess Kohoutek Lee Lemmon C/2012 F6 C/2019 U6 C/2025 A6 Leonard Levy LINEAR C/1999 S4 C/2000 WM1 C/2001 A2 C/2002 T7 LONEOS C/2001 OG108 C/2007 F1 Lovejoy C/2007 E2 C/2011 W3 C/2013 R1 C/2014 Q2 Lulin Machholz McNaught C/2006 P1 C/2009 R1 McNaught–Russell Mellish C/1915 C1 C/1917 F1 Mrkos NEAT C/2001 Q4 C/2002 V1 NEOWISE Nishimura Oukaimeden ʻOumuamua Pan-STARRS C/2011 L4 C/2012 K1 311P/PanSTARRS C/2014 Q1 C/2015 ER61 C/2017 K2 Pereyra Pojmański Ryves Seki Seki–Lines Siding Spring C/2007 Q3 C/2013 A1 Skjellerup–Maristany Skorichenko–George SOHO Solwind Southern Spacewatch Stonehouse Sugano–Saigusa–Fujikawa Suzuki–Saigusa–Mori SWAN C/2006 M4 C/2020 F8 Tago–Sato–Kosaka Tsuchinshan–ATLAS West White–Ortiz–Bolelli Wilson–Hubbard Yi–SWAN Zhu–Balam ZTF
Category

Authority control databases	JPL SBDB MPC