Comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS fragmentation: 13 Nov. 2025 image and animation.
Thanks to the good weather, we managed to image comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS again, finding a dramatic situation in the inner coma, after the recent outburst and fragmentation, with several pieces/clouds visible. We also provide an animation showing the evolution in two days.
Comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS: several pieces are visible. 13 Nov. 2025.
The image above comes from the sigma-clipping combination of 15, 60-second unfiltered exposures, remotely taken with the Celestron C14+Paramount ME+SBIG ST-10XME robotic unit available as part of the Virtual Telescope Project in Manciano, Italy. To keep the highest detail, we shortened the exposure time and, looking at the results, we are happy with that choice.
Several parts (sub-nuclei or clouds of debris) are visible, also a plume just below the leading (the first from the left) fragment.
The picture below shows the outcome from a 30-deg. rotational gradient, centered on the brightest unit.
The inner coma after a 20-degrees rotational gradient filtering.
Using both the images from tonight and the previous one, we created the animation below, showing the relative motions of the different units.
Comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS: 12 vs 13 Nov. 2025 images, showing the evolution in 24 hours.
We will continue monitoring the future evolution.
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