The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS

The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS

Image Credit & Copyright:
Martin Mašek
(FZU, Czech Academy of Sciences)
&
Jakub Kuřák

Explanation:
Why does this comet have so many tails?

C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) has developed several
long and intricate tails visible from
Earth’s southern hemisphere over the past two weeks.

Many observers reported seeing the
impressive comet without any
optical aid
above the western horizon just after sunset.

At least six different tails appear in the
featured image captured five days ago from the dark skies above
Paranal Observatory in
Chile.

One possible cause for the multiple tails is dust and gas being
expelled from the comet’s
rotating nucleus.

The outward push of the
Sun‘s complex
solar wind may also play a role.

The huge iceberg-like nucleus of
Comet
ATLAS appears to have
broken up near its closest approach to the Sun two weeks ago.

Unfortunately,
Comet ATLAS
and its tails are expected to fade significantly over the coming weeks.