Comet Gallery

(Click on any image for the full version)

Comet Ikeya-Zhang

Images of comet Ikeya-Zhang (courtesy of Dr. Chris Proctor (TAS))

Ikeya-Zhang
2002 March 28
Ikeya-Zhang
2002 April 6
Ikeya-Zhang
2002 April 7
The centre image is a widefield shot from Corley Common, Ipplepen. The outer two were photographed at the TBGS using the 50cm reflector.

Comet Linear

Photographed at the TBGS on the night of 18th-19th July 2000.

Comet Linear
2000 July

Comet Linear put on quite a respectable show in mid July 2000. It never became visible to the unaided eye, but looked nice in a small telescope, with a bright star-like head and fan shaped tail. Then on July 27th it began to fade dramatically. Over the next few days the head almost vanished, leaving a wisp of tail the only obvious remnant of the comet. Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope in Chile showed that the comet had completely disintegrated, breaking up into a large number of small pieces. It is quite common for comets to break up around perihelion (their closest approach to the Sun), suggesting that they are not solid objects but loose aggregations of ice and dust - flying gravel piles.

Images of comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp (courtesy of Dr. Chris Proctor (TAS))

Hyakutake 960420
Hale Bopp 970208
Hale Bopp 970306
Hale Bopp 970316
Hale Bopp 970329

Hale Bopp 970407
Hale Bopp 970409
Hale Bopp 970410
Hale Bopp 970411
Hale Bopp 970430