Comet (2019/Y4 ATLAS) heading our way takes one look at Earth, self-destructs

[Rick]

ATLAS flubbed: Comet heading our way takes one look at Earth, self-destructs into house-sized chunks

Stargazers hoping to glimpse a comet close to Earth next month are in for a disappointment: it fell apart en route.

The comet C/2019 Y4, commonly referred to as ATLAS after its discovery by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System in Hawaii, broke off into as many as 30 shards – each one the size of a house – judging from images snapped by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

More: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/29/atlas_comet_shards/

[Carole]

I was planning to image that, thanks for the head up.
I wonder whether the split comet is worth imaging, and if so what sort of trajectory the various bits are on.

Mind you by the time the skies clear sufficient to do it, they may be too far apart.

Carole

[Rick]

I think it's probably a case of "definitely worth imaging, and would have been worth imaging in the last couple of weeks too, but missed it"...