Discovery Date: December 28, 2019

Designation: C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)

Distance/Location: Discovered by the ATLAS survey atop Mauna Loa.

Key Fact: It followed the same “orbital railroad track” as a great comet seen in 1844, suggesting it was a fragment of a much larger parent body from 5,000 years ago.

Scientific Anomaly: Despite initial predictions that it would become a “Great Comet,” it disintegrated in April 2020 before reaching the Sun. Hubble captured roughly 30 separate fragments. The timing of its disintegration—occurring right as the global grid locked down—remains a major point of discussion in the Signal vs. Noise archives.