cometary
spectra
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Comets Hyakutake & Hale Bopp 1996-7 Linear [C/1999 S4] Linear C/2001 A2+C/2000 WM1
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2002 June 9: Comet in Serpens in clear conditions via 5m exposure.
2002 June 8: Comet in Serpens through cloud break in brief 60s exposure.
2002 May 30: Comet moves south into Serpens near iota [i] Ser tonight with tail to the right better revealed in the negative [includes polar satellite!]. Green colour very evident in the coma via the Starlight Xpress MX5c CCD in 5min exposure.
2002 May 16: Comet moves into Hercules and fades but still superior to nearby M13 in 80x11 bins.
2002 May 4/5: Comet at high altitude [+60o] after midnight [BST] and just visible to naked eye in the Head of Draco but an easy object in binoculars [much superior to nearby M13] and splendid through Celestron C8 x100 with stars visible through extended coma. Digital images from fixed tripod show distinct blue-green colour to coma.
2002 Apr 18: Following thundery rain, excellent clear skies with the comet due north in Cepheus and just detectable to the naked eye.
2002 Apr 16: Following Saturn occultation by the Moon, a piggybacked camera on Meade SCT turned north over London skyglow. No stars visible below a hazy Polaris but MX9 CCD coupled to 135mm f/2.8 lens with blue filter has x-ray vision in a starstudded cometary field! Tail has swung clockwise through 90o in less than a month.
2002 March 26/27 [28 spectra] [29 visual]: Glimpsed by naked eye as a hazy spot and fair view in binoculars above NW horizon with full moon rising in ESE. Comet records structure in coma [including bow-wave] and tail via unsharp masking filter.
2002 March 15: First views of this comet low and due west after dusk - an easy binocular object with short tail in hazy conditions below Aries. Wide field shot via Minolta D7 digital camera.
First comet, since Comet Hyakutake in 1997 as seen from WPO, to show strong emission lines in its spectrum. Peaking ~5000A and coinciding with the human eyes peak sensitivity they probably give the comet a bright green/blue appearance. Two or three lesser emission lines also recorded. bAri, with hydrogen absorption lines in the Balmer series, used for comparison/ calibration.2002 March 21: Comet fine sight in binoculars - images via 85mm fl lens + MX5 CCD piggybacked on LX200 before setting into garden trees; 30s composites with tail <2o long together with spectrum.
Note: red K/M type stars with an infra-red excess are are partially defocused into halos via a regular camera lens.
image & text copyright Maurice Gavin - 2002 - reduced 2003 Nov 9