--- title: "Scientists Startled by What Happens When They Point Hubble at Comet" description: "An extraordinary coincidence occurred when astronomers pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at a wayward comet." date: "2026-03-22" modified: "2026-03-22" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/space/scientists-hubble-comet-breakup" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Space" --- # Scientists Startled by What Happens When They Point Hubble at Comet ![Three sequential images dated November 8, 9, and 10, 2025, show a bright comet with a glowing nucleus and a diffuse blue tail extending diagonally upward to the left against a dark background. The comet's nucleus is splitting into multiple fragments over the three days, with the fragments becoming more distinct and separated in each subsequent image.]() *NASA, ESA, Dennis Bodewits (AU); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)* Lady Fortune was on astronomers' side when they pointed the [Hubble Space Telescope]() at a comet drifting through our solar system. Just as they began observing the comet, it started breaking apart, providing an extraordinary chance to probe how these icy bodies evolve. "Sometimes the best science happens by accident," John Noonan, a research physicist at Auburn University in Alabama, and coauthor of a [new study]() published in the journal *Icarus* detailing the discovery, said in a [statement]() about the work. After their original plans to observe a different comet fell through, "we had to find a new target," he explained. "And right when we observed it, it happened to break apart, which is the slimmest of slim chances." Shortly before disintegrating, the comet, dubbed [C/2025 K1]() (ATLAS) — a home-grown snowball, not to be confused with our interstellar visitor 3/I ATLAS — had completed its closest approach to the Sun, a point called perihelion, on October 8, 2025. It came within a third of the Earth's distance from our star, experiencing intense heating. The observations were taken between November 8 and November 20 2025, just as it began to unravel. When Noonan looked at the Hubble observations, he noticed a quartet of comets, instead of just one. C/2025 K1 had splintered into four. Each of the fragments had a distinct coma, the cloud of gas and dust that shrouds a comet's nucleus, which is a solid core of icy material. Scientists can examine the comas to infer the comet's composition. As leftover shards from solar system's formation, they can tell us a lot about the material that our cosmic neck of the woods was built with, which could have implications about the traits of other planetary systems, too. But as principal investigator Dennis Bodewits explains, these samples usually aren't "pristine," making it difficult to draw broader conclusions. "They've been heated; they've been irradiated by the sun and by cosmic rays," Bodewits, who is also a physics professor at Auburn University, said in the statement. "So, when looking at a comet's composition, the question we always have is, 'Is this a primitive property or is this due to evolution?' That the astronomers are seeing the comet immediately after fragmenting arguably provides as "pristine" a sample as we'll ever get. "Never before has Hubble caught a fragmenting comet this close to when it actually fell apart. Most of the time, it's a few weeks to a month later. And in this case, we were able to see it just days after," said Noonan. "This is telling us something very important about the physics of what's happening at the comet's surface. We may be seeing the timescale it takes to form a substantial dust layer that can then be ejected by the gas." The comet, or its fragmented remains, is now some 250 million miles from our planet. Astronomers, in the meantime, are figuratively trying to put the pieces back together and analyze the gas readings. **More on comets:** [*Please Resist the Urge to Drink the Melted Sludge From 3I/ATLAS*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()