A comet discovered last January just can’t keep itself together. Ever since astronomers first spied the object, dubbed C/2001 A2, it’s been breaking up.
The first sign that the comet might be undergoing some kind of upheaval came in March, when the body suddenly brightened. Brightening is often a sign of a cometary breakup, which exposes new surfaces to sunlight and vents trapped ice and gas that are then illuminated by the sun.