Astronomers were abuzz last week following the discovery of an active asteroid in Jupiter’s orbit, in what was thought to be a new type of celestial object. Follow-up investigations have revealed it to be a regular comet, albeit one in a misleading orbit.
The Hubble Space Telescope didn’t rest during its recent 30th anniversary celebration. Instead, it watched the comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) fragment into at least 30 pieces.
Recent images of the second interstellar comet known to have visited the solar system appear to reveal a fragment or fragments falling off of its core.