A comet designated C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) has fragmented into three large pieces, producing a striking display that observers with an eight-inch (20 cm) telescope or larger may be able to see over the coming weeks. Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope 2.0 Project, captured dramatic images showing the comet’s nucleus separated into three distinct glowing fragments.
“Comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS experienced a dramatic fragmentation event, becoming one of the most interesting objects of its kind seen in recent years,” Masi wrote on his project blog following the observations.
The object was first discovered in May from El Sauce Observatory in Río Hurtado, Chile, by the ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey. Studies indicate C/2025 K1 originated in the distant Oort Cloud, the shell of icy bodies surrounding the solar system, before being perturbed inward. It reached perihelion — its closest approach to the Sun — on October 8.
Observers recorded two brightness outbursts in late October and early November that coincided with the fragmentation. Such breakups commonly occur as comet nuclei composed of ice, rock and dust heat and weaken under solar radiation and tidal stresses; the resulting pieces often continue to shed gas and dust, forming visible comae and tails.
How to see it
If you have an eight-inch or larger telescope, look toward the comet’s predicted position over the next several weeks; the fragments may appear as multiple bright condensations within the comet’s head. If you don’t have access to a telescope, the Virtual Telescope 2.0 Project will stream live views of the comet on November 25, when C/2025 K1 makes its closest approach to Earth.
Scientific significance and safety
Scientists do not expect any part of C/2025 K1 to impact a planet during this passage. Instead, the fragmentation offers researchers a rare opportunity to study how primitive cometary material responds to solar heating and mechanical stresses at a distance of more than 60 million kilometers from Earth. Comet breakups are not unprecedented — for example, Shoemaker–Levy 9 fragmented and later struck Jupiter in 1994 — but each event provides unique data on comet structure and evolution.
As the fragments evolve, astronomers worldwide will continue imaging and measuring their brightness, motion and gas-and-dust production to learn more about the comet’s composition and the mechanics of its breakup.
