Visit – Calendar – Tracking Comet Atlas, April 2020
April 1, 2020
12:00 a.m. – 11:59 p.m.
Griffith Observatory

Tracking Comet Atlas, April 2020

In July 2020, Griffith Observatory provided observing guidance for the arrival of Comet Neowise, which definitely lived up to its billing.

Upcoming Astronomical Observing at Griffith Observatory

A new comet, C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), is falling into the inner solar system. Early predictions suggested it would be bright enough to be a naked eye comet, and maybe even a daytime comet. Recently, however, the comet appears to be breaking up, so early expectations are unlikely to be met.

Still, Comet ATLAS (provisional name) is of great interest, especially to observers with telescopes who can record the story of this inner solar system visitor. This page provides some background information on comets in general and this comet in particular. We welcome submissions and information from observers who may have images or pertinent observations.

Send inquiries or photos to allspaceconsidered@yahoo.com, or tweet at us @allspacecnsdrd. We may post your images on our gallery page.

May 2020 Sky Report
What is a comet?

Ephemeris for ATLAS (C/2019 Y4)

Positions for 9:30 p.m., PDT from Southern California

Brightness prediction based on Seiichi Yoshida’s light curve analysis of March 25, 2020
Right ascension and declination for epoch of date V.1 April 2, 2020, Griffith Observatory

Date 2020 RA Dec Az Alt Mag
April 1 7h 48.1m +68° 24′ 346.0° 53.3° 7.2
April 2 7h 41.1m +68° 19′ 344.5° 52.8° 7.2
April 3 7h 34.2m +68° 12’ 343.1° 52.2° 7.1
April 4 7h 27.4m +68° 06′ 341.8° 51.7° 7.0
April 5 7h 20.8m +67° 57′ 340.5° 51.1° 7.0
April 6 7h 14.3m +67° 48′ 339.3° 50.4° 6.9
April 7 7h 08.0m +67° 37′ 338.2° 49.8° 6.8
April 8 7h 01.9m +67° 25′ 337.1° 49.1° 6.7
April 9 6h 55.9m +67° 13′ 336.1° 48.4° 6.7
April 10 6h 50.0m +66° 59′ 335.1° 47.6° 6.6
April 11 6h 44.4m +66° 45′ 334.2° 46.9° 6.5
April 12 6h 38.8m +66° 30′ 333.3° 46.1° 6.4
April 13 6h 33.5m +66° 14′ 332.5° 45.3° 6.3
April 14 6h 28.2m +65° 57′ 331.7° 44.5° 6.3
April 15 6h 23.2m +65° 40′ 331.0° 43.7° 6.2
April 16 6h 18.2m +65° 22′ 330.4° 42.9° 6.1
April 17 6h 13.4m +65° 03′ 329.7° 42.0° 6.0
April 18 6h 08.7m +64° 44′ 329.2° 41.1° 5.9
April 19 6h 04.1m +64° 24′ 328.6° 40.3° 5.8
April 20 5h 59.7m +64° 04′ 328.1° 39.4° 5.7
April 21 5h 55.3m +63° 43′ 327.7° 38.4° 5.6
April 22 5h 51.0m +63° 21′ 327.2° 37.5° 5.6
April 23 5h 46.8m +62° 59′ 326.8° 36.6° 5.5
April 24 5h 42.7m +62° 36′ 326.5° 35.6° 5.4
April 25 5h 38.6m +62° 12′ 326.2° 34.7° 5.2
April 26 5h 34.6m +61° 48′ 325.9° 33.7° 5.1
April 27 5h 30.6m +61° 22′ 325.6° 32.7° 5.1
April 28 5h 26.7m +60° 56′ 325.4° 31.6° 5.0
April 29 5h 22.8m +60° 29′ 325.1° 30.6° 4.9
April 30 5h 18.9m +60° 01′ 325.0° 29.5° 4.8

Photo Gallery

Jonathan Nicholls

10 min interval photos played at 10fps
Date Taken: 04/14/2020
Location: Spondon, Derbyshire, UK
Equipment used:
8 inch newtonian telescope connected to a DSLR

Anthony Perkic

Date Taken: 04/11/2020
Location: Amboy, CA
Equipment used:
SkyView Pro 8” Newtonian Nikon d5300

Anthony Perkic

Date Taken: 04/11/2020
Location: Amboy, CA
Equipment used:
SkyView Pro 8” Newtonian Nikon d5300

Anthony Perkic

Three one-minute images stacked together
Date Taken: 03/27/2020
Location: Rice, CA
Equipment used:
SkyView Pro 8” Newtonian Nikon d5300

Blake Estes

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Equipment used:
14″ Celestron Edge HD with a Canon Rebel T6i
Orion EON 80 ED and an ATIK 490EX color

Blake Estes

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Equipment used:
14″ Celestron Edge HD with a Canon Rebel T6i
Orion EON 80 ED and an ATIK 490EX color

Blake Estes

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Equipment used:
14″ Celestron Edge HD with a Canon Rebel T6i
TMB 130SS and a SBIG STF-8300