Comets

Digital Photographs and Associated Astronomical Information By Dr. Greg Latta and The CCD Astronomy Team At Frostburg State University

Includes super wide-field images of Comet Hale-Bopp taken April 2, 1997

For more information about comets in general and comet Hale-Bopp in particular, try visiting Sky Publishing, Publishers of Sky and Telescope Magazine

Click On The Small "Thumbnail" Image Or "GIF" Icon For A Larger View

Click On The "Caption" Icon For Detailed Information

Hale-Bopp Wide-Filed Composite Image Super Wide-Field Composite Images of Comet Hale-Bopp Taken April 2, 1997
Hyakutake43kb CaptionCaption
HYAKZOOMFull Resolution 2x Zoom 151kb
This is a beautiful, super wide-field composite image of Comet Hale-Bopp assembled from about sixteen different images taken on the evening of April 2, 1997. It beautifully shows the incredible double tail behind the comet. The standard image (43kb) is best viewed with a 640 x 480 x 256 color video driver. The full resolution image (151kb) is best viewed with a 1024 x 768 x 256 color video driver. Check your windows manual or windows help file for information on how to change video drivers.

Hale-Bopp Composite ImageComposite Images of Comet Hale-Bopp Taken April 2, 1997
Hyakutake32kb CaptionCaption
HYAKZOOMFull Resolution 2x Zoom 113kb
This is a composite image assembled from six different images of Hale-Bopp taken on the evening of April 2, 1997. It beautifully shows the vast double tail behind the comet. The standard image (32kb) is best viewed with a 640 x 480 x 256 color video driver. The full resolution image (113kb) is best viewed with a 1024 x 768 x 256 color video driver. Check your windows manual or windows help file for information on how to change video drivers.

Hale-Bopp Image 4 Comet Hale-Bopp #4
Hyakutake21kb CaptionCaption
HYAKZOOM2x Zoom 56kb
This is a combination image of Hale-Bopp #1 and Hale-Bopp #2. The two images have been co-added to increase the effective exposure and the image has been log scaled. The image processing was done by FSU student Ben Cushwa. Compare this to image Hale-Bopp #3, which effectively has half of the exposure.

Hale-Bopp Image 3 Comet Hale-Bopp #3
Hyakutake24kb CaptionCaption
HYAKZOOM2x Zoom 62kb
This is the same image as Hale-Bopp #1 at the top of this page, except that the image has been processed to bring out more detail. Read the caption for more information about the image processing that was performed.

Hale-Bopp Image 2 Comet Hale-Bopp #2
Hyakutake53kb CaptionCaption
HYAKZOOM2x Zoom 138kb
Another view of comet Hale-Bopp taken at 6:01 A.M., Wednesday, February 26, four minutes later than the previous view. This picture is as yet unprocessed.

Hale-Bopp Image 1 Comet Hale-Bopp #1
Hyakutake53kb CaptionCaption
HYAKZOOM2x Zoom 137kb
A view of comet Hale-Bopp taken at 5:57 A.M., Wednesday, February 26. This picture is unprocessed. For the processed image, which contains much more detail, see image Hale-Bopp #3.

HYAK.GIF Comet Hyakutake
Hyakutake27kB CaptionCaption
HYAKZOOM2x Zoom (95kB) HYAKHEADDetail of Head (40kB) HYAKTAILDetail of Tail (23kB)
Several views of the comet Hyakutake taken during the comet's closest approach to earth.

GalaxyReturn to Dr. Greg Latta's CCD Astrophotography Page

Questions, Comments, and E-Mail

LetterIf you have any questions or comments, you can send E-Mail to Dr. Greg Latta at glatta@frostburg.edu

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