The "other" Comet ATLAS thats getting attention

[LazyHippo]

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS is getting all the headlines, but there's another, local, Comet ATLAS that's just as interesting: Comet ATLAS (C/2025 K1) is dramatically falling apart:

 

 

 

 

"Following brightness surges in early November, we have been able to observe this comet splitting into three brighter fragments for the past two weeks," says photographer Michael Jäger. "The animation shows it on November 12, 14, 18, 19, and 20th."
 

 

This is no ordinary comet. Earlier this month, amateur astronomer Dan Bartlett of June Lake, California, noticed that it had a golden color, completely unlike the greens and blues we see in most comets. Even 3I/ATLAS is green and blue.

 

The golden color is probably linked to the comet's strange chemistry. Carbon compounds, which give comets their usual green and blue colors, are severely depleted in C/2025 K1. No one knows why.
 

Perhaps the lack of carbon has made Comet ATLAS fragile. In the short time since Michael Jäger made his Nov. 20th animation, a fourth fragment has appeared, shown here in a Nov. 23rd image from the 2-meter Foulkes Telescope North:

 

 

Comet ATLAS (C/2025 K1) three fragments. (Image credit: Nick James)

 

Nick James of the British Astronomical Association created the image using data gathered by Helen Usher's Comet Chasers group. "The new fragment is just in front of fragment C," he points out. "Also, component A has brightened significantly over the past few days." This could herald the birth of yet another fragment in the nights ahead.

[RedBaird]

On 11/23/2025 at 4:18 PM, LazyHippo said:

June Lake, California

 

I had never heard of this (unincorporated) town, so I looked it up.

 

Area              11.10 sq mi (28.74 km2)
Elevation       7,786 ft (2,373 m)
Population     611

(In the summer, the population can grow by an estimated 2,500 visitors)