This picture of Hale-Bopp is the same as Hale-Bopp #1, except that it 
has been processed to bring out detail hidden in the image.  North is at 
the top and east is to the left. 

A comparison with image Hale-Bopp #1 will show that much more detail is 
visible throughout this image, particularly in the region of the head.  
This is because logarithmic scaling has been used on the image, whereby 
the picture values are replaced with their corresponding logarithms.  
Log scaling tends to compress the brightness range of an image, allowing 
one to view both bright areas (such as the comet's head) and dim areas 
(such as the tail) at the same time.

The picture was taken at 5:57 A.M. on Tuesday, February 26th.  It was 
taken before the camera had fully cooled since sunrise was quickly 
appoaching and only limited time was available.  As a result the picture 
is much noisier than normal and it contains streaks that cannot be 
completely removed by the processes of dark subtraction and log scaling.  

The zoomed image is the same image enlarged by a factor of 2.

Object: Comet Hale-Bopp
Telescope focal length: 500mm
Telescope aperture: 80mm
Camera: Santa Barbara Instruments ST-6
Exposure: 1s
Observer(s): Greg and Teddy Latta