This comet was supposed to be the brightest of 2020 — now it's falling apart in the skies above us

• Comet ATLAS not only supposed to be brightest comet of 2020 — but the brightest to fly over Earth in over two decades.
  
• However, a network of 60 telescopes by citizen astronomers was able to determine that it’s falling apart instead.
  
• Instead of breaking records, it’s now a part of the long line of comets that were destined for greatness but fell short at the end of the day.
  

Comet ATLAS was supposed to be the brightest comet of 2020 — so bright that people would be able to see it zoom past Earth’s skies visible to the naked eye. Some say it would have been the brightest comet in over two decades to fall to our planet.

As its deadline reared closer, instead of becoming brighter, the comet seemed like it was rapidly starting to disappear.

Using 60 eVscopes — 40 users in Europe and another 20 in the US — a digital network of telescopes with Unistellar was able to crowdsource images of Comet ATLAS. They were able to determine that it was disintegrating instead.

All the data was brought together to create a ‘super image’ of the comet showing its tail, its coma and its eerie green glow that indicates the presence of cyanide gas. Super images taken over three days show that the centre of the comet — the nucleus — is indeed falling apart.

“We’ve combined observations from multiple users to produce a highly accurate observing record of Comet ATLAS,” explained Arnaud Malvache, Chief Technology Officer at Unistellar.


Comet ATLAS grew 4,000 times brighter in just a month
Comet ATLAS was first discovered in December 2019 by astronomers in Hawaii. At the time, it was as dim as can be. However, within the span of a month, the comet grew to become over more than 4,000 times brighter.

Not only was the massive increase in its brightness far greater than what astronomers had originally anticipated, but it also raised expectations that Comet ATLAS would only become brighter in the coming days.

“Comet ATLAS continues to brighten much faster than expected. Some predictions for its peak brightness now border on the absurd,” stated Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab at the time.

The comet was on its way to Earth after taking a spin around Mars, not unlike one of the iconic comets in history — the Great Comet of 1844.

It was expected that the Comet ATLAS would become visible to the naked eye in early April and by the time May rolled around, its greenish hue would have been evident to anyone in the northern hemisphere.

Instead of breaking records, it’s now a part of the long line of comets that were destined for greatness but fell short at the end of the day.

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