Space Science
Hubble unexpectedly catches comet breaking up
Mar 18, 2026, 2:00 PM
出典: ESA Space News
<img src="https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2026/03/comet_c_2025_k1_atlas_november_2025/27155959-1-eng-GB/Comet_C_2025_K1_ATLAS_November_2025_card_full.jpg" alt="Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS; Nov 2025)">
<p>Comet K1, whose full name is Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS), had just passed its closest approach to the Sun and was heading out of the Solar System. Though it had been intact just days before, K1 fragmented into at least four pieces while the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was watching. The odds of that happening while Hubble viewed the comet are extraordinarily miniscule.</p>
Details
Comet K1, whose full name is Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS), had just passed its closest approach to the Sun and was heading out of the Solar System. Though it had been intact just days before, K1 fragmented into at least four pieces while the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was watching. The odds of that happening while Hubble viewed the comet are extraordinarily miniscule.
Related Knowledge
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Cometary Fragmentation
Cometary fragmentation refers to the process where a comet breaks apart into smaller pieces, often due to gravitational forces, thermal stress, or other dynamic interactions. This phenomenon can provide insights into the composition and structure of comets, as well as the processes that govern their evolution.
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Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a large telescope in space that has provided invaluable data and images of celestial objects since its launch in 1990. It operates outside Earth's atmosphere, allowing for clearer observations of distant galaxies, nebulae, and other astronomical phenomena.