When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.This diagram shows the path Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS), or K1, took as it swung past the sun and began its journey out of the solar system. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured the inset image of the fragmenting comet just a month after K1’s closest approach to the sun. | Credit: NASA, ESA, Dennis Bodewits (AU); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a rare cosmic moment: a comet breaking apart in real time.During its routine imaging of the universe, the space telescope spotted an unexpected object called C/2025 K1 (ATLAS), or comet K1 for short. Remarkably, Hubble’s observations revealed that the comet’s nucleus was actively fragmenting, according to a statement from NASA.AdvertisementAdvertisement”Sometimes the best science happens by accident,” John Noonan, co-author of the study and physics professor at Auburn University, said in the statement. “This comet [was] observed because our original comet was not viewable due to some new technical constraints after we won our proposal. We had to find a new target — and right when we observed it, it happened to break apart, which is the slimmest of slim chances.”Comets are icy, rocky objects from the outer solar system that heat up as they approach the sun, releasing gas and dust to form a glowing coma and tail. They can also break apart when solar heating and gravitational forces overwhelm their fragile structure.Astronomers observed K1 over three consecutive days, from Nov. 8 through Nov. 10, 2025, and found that it had already begun breaking apart before Hubble turned its gaze toward it. The telescope caught the comet splitting into at least four pieces, each surrounded by its own coma. One fragment appeared to split again during the observations, suggesting the process was still unfolding.Researchers estimate the breakup began roughly a week earlier, likely triggered by the comet’s close approach to t …
