At the beginning of 2020, just as the world was learning about COVID-19, astronomers at the University of Hawaii first saw Comet C/2019 Y4 comet as part of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). News reports speculated we were in for a treat as ATLAS was expected to become a bright comet in the sky—rivaling the Great Comet of 1844! However, these prognosticators would be proven wrong.
By mid-April 2020, the comet disintegrated into smaller pieces and its hazy light faded away. The breakup did lead to new learnings, including that comet ATLAS was part of a larger comet that flew by us 5,000 years ago. 1
My Observations
| Date | April 10, 2020 |
| Time | 9:43 p.m. |
| Location | Seattle, WA |
| Camera | Canon 70d |
| Seeing | Above Average |
| Transparency | Above Average |
Unlike the memorable night of finding Comet Wirtanen with my camera, the evening of April 10 was not great. My mind was tired and racing after a long day at work communicating about the pandemic. The new reality was hitting as my daughter started school from home along with millions of children across the country.
I knew from astronomy reports online that Comet ATLAS was breaking up, but the dreary rainy April weather kept me from getting out under the stars earlier to view it. Then, once my window opened, the comet was already in the process of breaking up. Still, I pounced on the opportunity and took out my camera on the tripod. After an hour of trying various long exposures (with no tracking motor), I landed on one frame with a hazy small patch of light.
The photos online of ATLAS breaking up fit that moment in history. The potentially awesome comet disintegrated before our eyes and faded away. By that time, however, I didn’t really care much about the death of the ancient comet. COVID-19 was sweeping across the world making trivial problems fade into the darkness like the comet.
Discovered photographically on December 28, 2019.
March 22, 2020 the comet starts disintegrating.
March 30, 2020: the comet would be at its brightest then start to fade until May 21, 2020, the last day it was viewed.
Sources and Notes
The banner photo of the comet is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Attribution: Comet Atlas with reduced Coma, observed on April 15, 2020, as recorded by Raman Madhira from Ray’s Astrophotography Observatory.
1 Jenner, L. (2021, August 17). Comet Atlas may have been a blast from the past. NASA. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/comet-atlas-may-have-been-a-blast-from-the-past
The Garden Astronomer 
4 thoughts on “Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)”