Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) splits into 3 pieces after a close brush with the sun (video)

Two bright points of white light are pictured against a dark background representing the nucleus of a fractured comet, surrounded by a red hazy coma and tail streaming away to the upper right of the image.

Astronomers have captured striking footage of the solar system comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) breaking apart on the nights following Nov. 11 after it was destabilized by a close brush with the sun in early October.

Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) brightened significantly in the months following its May 2025 discovery. As it got closer to the sun and heated up, the frozen gases in its core turned into gas and formed a reflective cloud around it known as a coma. Solar wind caused this gas to blow out behind it, forming the characteristic tail seen on most visible comets.