page_title: C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)
section_title: Initial observation and brightness
hierarchical_section_title: C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) / Initial observation and brightness
caption_attribution_description: English: Comet Atlas with reduced Coma, observed on April 15, 2020 as recorded by Raman Madhira from Ray's Astrophotography Observatory. A 11 inches RASA telescope plus a color CMOS was used
context_page_description: C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) is a comet with a near-parabolic orbit discovered by the ATLAS survey on December 28, 2019. It is currently in the constellation Monoceros. Early predictions based on the brightening rate suggested that the comet could become as bright as magnitude 0 matching the brightness of Vega. It received widespread media coverage due to its dramatic increase in brightness and orbit similar to the Great Comet of 1844, but on March 22, 2020, the comet started disintegrating. Such fragmentation events are very common for Kreutz Sungrazers. The comet continues to fade and did not reach naked eye visibility. By mid-May, comet ATLAS appeared very diffuse even in a telescope. C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) has not been seen since May 21, 2020.
  C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) was the brightest on March 30 when it had an apparent magnitude of about 7, but after disintegrating, it continued to fade, until it was last observed on May 21st. It is located in the constellation Monoceros but is no longer visible. It reached its nearest point to Earth on May 23 and come to perihelion on May 31.
  In April 2020, astronomers reported, on The Astronomer's Telegram, the possible disintegration of Comet ATLAS.
context_section_description: Between the beginning of February and near the end of March, Comet ATLAS brightened from magnitude 17 to magnitude 8, representing a 4000-fold increase in brightness. In March 2020, the comet's brightness increased four magnitudes. C/2019 Y4's green or aqua colour arose from emissions of diatomic carbon with a 1.2° or 10' or 3.3 million km multicolour tail, more than twice as wide as the Sun. As a diffuse object, the comet would need to reach an apparent magnitude of around 3–4 to be obvious to the casual observer in a dark sky. A 4th magnitude comet in bright twilight is not very impressive nor obvious. In early April, the comet faded due to a significant fragmentation event. On April 14, 2020, initial estimates of water production by the comet were reported, and found "a water production rate of 1.25×10²⁸ +/- 5×10²⁵ mol/sec within an aperture of 100,000 km".
caption: Comet ATLAS – reduced coma (April 15, 2020)
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