Posted on Apr 17, 2020
APOD: 2020 April 16 - Comet ATLAS Breaks Up
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Good Red Friday evening, Rallypoint. It's a two-fer Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) post, as things have been a bit busy in the Union County freedom outpost adjacent to the Peoples Republic of Mecklenburg County, NC. We have been successfully Kung Flu fighting since March 13th. Yesterday's APOD is titled "Comet ATLAS Breaks Up." I had been looking forward to Comet ATLAS this spring, but hopes will be confined to binoculars or telescopes. Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) is currently in the constellation of Camelopardalis, adjacent to the Big Dipper (Ursa Major). Around April 2, 2020, the comet started disintegrating and appears to now be in four pieces. As a result, it continues to fade and is not expected to brighten. Still worth a look, I think, if you've got the gear to do so.
APOD: 2020 April 16 - Comet ATLAS Breaks Up
Posted from apod.nasa.gov
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Bill Haley & The Comets - Shake Rattle & Roll
Bill Haley & The Comets sing one of their biggest hits - Shake Rattle & Roll.
Thank you my friend Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for posting the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) post for Thursday, April 16, 2020 "Comet ATLAS Breaks Up "
Image: Comet ATLAS Breaks Up - Image Credit & Copyright - Milen Minev (Bulgarian Inst. of Astronomy and NAO Rozhen), Velimir Popov, Emil Ivanov (Irida Observatory)
"Explanation: Cruising through the inner solar system, Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) has apparently fragmented. Multiple separate condensations within its diffuse coma are visible in this telescopic close-up from April 12, composed of frames tracking the comet's motion against trailing background stars. Discovered at the end of December 2019, this comet ATLAS showed a remarkably rapid increase in brightness in late March. Northern hemisphere comet watchers held out hope that it would become a bright naked-eye comet as it came closer to Earth in late April and May. But fragmenting ATLAS is slowly fading in northern skies. The breakup of comets is not uncommon though. This comet ATLAS is in an orbit similar to the Great Comet of 1844 (C/1844 Y1) and both may be fragments of a single larger comet."
Bill Haley & The Comets - Shake Rattle & Roll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqSIvwZVFoQ
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs Col Carl Whicker SGT Steve McFarland SP5 Mark Kuzinski SSG William Jones SSG Michael Noll CPT Paul Whitmer1SG Steven Imerman 1SG (Join to see) 1SG Joseph Dartey SPC Richard (Rick) Henry SPC Randy Zimmerman FN Randy Bohlke PO3 Phyllis Maynard SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt David Hoffman SPC Douglas Bolton Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Maj Kim Patterson
Image: Comet ATLAS Breaks Up - Image Credit & Copyright - Milen Minev (Bulgarian Inst. of Astronomy and NAO Rozhen), Velimir Popov, Emil Ivanov (Irida Observatory)
"Explanation: Cruising through the inner solar system, Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) has apparently fragmented. Multiple separate condensations within its diffuse coma are visible in this telescopic close-up from April 12, composed of frames tracking the comet's motion against trailing background stars. Discovered at the end of December 2019, this comet ATLAS showed a remarkably rapid increase in brightness in late March. Northern hemisphere comet watchers held out hope that it would become a bright naked-eye comet as it came closer to Earth in late April and May. But fragmenting ATLAS is slowly fading in northern skies. The breakup of comets is not uncommon though. This comet ATLAS is in an orbit similar to the Great Comet of 1844 (C/1844 Y1) and both may be fragments of a single larger comet."
Bill Haley & The Comets - Shake Rattle & Roll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqSIvwZVFoQ
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs Col Carl Whicker SGT Steve McFarland SP5 Mark Kuzinski SSG William Jones SSG Michael Noll CPT Paul Whitmer1SG Steven Imerman 1SG (Join to see) 1SG Joseph Dartey SPC Richard (Rick) Henry SPC Randy Zimmerman FN Randy Bohlke PO3 Phyllis Maynard SPC Margaret Higgins MSgt David Hoffman SPC Douglas Bolton Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Maj Kim Patterson
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LTC Stephen F.
FYI Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D.SP5 Jeannie CarleSPC Chris Bayner-CwikTSgt David L.PO1 Robert GeorgeSSG Robert Mark OdomSPC Matthew LambSPC Nancy GreeneSSG Franklin Briant1stsgt Glenn Brackin
SSG Samuel KermonSP5 Geoffrey VannersonCol Casey "Radio" G.SFC John LichSgt Jackie JuliusSFC Richard Williamson1SG John Highfill
1SG Joseph DarteyLT Ed SkibaMaj Scott Kiger, M.A.S.
SSG Samuel KermonSP5 Geoffrey VannersonCol Casey "Radio" G.SFC John LichSgt Jackie JuliusSFC Richard Williamson1SG John Highfill
1SG Joseph DarteyLT Ed SkibaMaj Scott Kiger, M.A.S.
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MSgt Paul Connors SGT John Melvin LTC Tom McNew LTC Stephen C. SSG Michael Noll SGT Steve McFarland LTC Stephen F. Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen 1SG Steven Imerman Cpl (Join to see) Sgt Kelli Mays MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi PO3 Lynn Spalding LTC (Join to see) SSG Gordon Holmes SMSgt Lawrence McCarterSGT Mark Anderson SP5 Jeannie Carle 1SG (Join to see)
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