MSGID: 1:153/757.0 58241c89
TZUTC: -0800
CHRS: LATIN-1 2
                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2025 February 2
     A series of comet images is shown. On the far left the image shows
   Comet G3 ATLAS with a bright central concentration at its head near the
    bottom of the frame. By the far right, this central concentration is
   nearly gone. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                        Comet G3 ATLAS Disintegrates
                         Image Credit: Lionel Majzik

   Explanation: What's happening to Comet G3 ATLAS? After passing near the
   Sun in mid-January, the head of the comet has become dimmer and dimmer.
   By late January, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) had become a headless wonder
   -- even though it continued to show impressive tails after sunset in
   the skies of Earth's Southern Hemisphere. Pictured are images of Comet
   G3 ATLAS on successive January nights taken from R+¡o Hurtado, Chile.
   Clearly, the comet's head is brighter and more centrally condensed on
   the earlier days (left) than on later days (right). A key reason is
   likely that the comet's nucleus of ice and rock, at the head's center,
   has fragmented. Comet G3 ATLAS passed well inside the orbit of planet
   Mercury when at its solar closest, a distance that where heat destroys
   many comets. Some of comet G3 ATLAS' scattering remains will continue
   to orbit the Sun.

                           Gallery: Comet G3 ATLAS
                 Tomorrow's picture: star-sized wind machine
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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