Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) at NOAO using the 0.9m Telescope
NOAO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation
These images are freely available for informational or instructional use.
Please attach the following credit: "Courtesy National Optical Astronomy
Observatories and National Science Foundation."
This picture was taken at the
Kitt Peak
0.9m telescope on the night
of Thursday March 21st by Yanga R. Fernandez of the
University of Maryland,
during a project with Carey M. Lisse, Michael F. A'Hearn, and Dennis
D. Wellnitz (also of the University of Maryland). The frame covers
about 12 arc minutes on a side or, at the distance of the comet at the
time the picture was taken, about 70000 km. This is among the first
images to show a clear tail close to the nucleus, pointing back in the
same direction as the plasma tail seen at larger scales (and by the naked
eye). In addition, there is a definite asymmetry with respect to the
sun-comet line, with the north side (to the left in this frame) being
brighter than the south. The scientists are studying how structures in
the coma and near the nucleus change with time. In this false color
composite, red and blue colors show different aspects of the dust
distribution, while the green color shows emission from molecules of
carbon gas, which is an indicator of the level of activity of the comet.
(Note this is a different color scheme than was used for the
WIYN images.)
The reductions and color enhancements of this image were done by
Dr. Nigel Sharp (520-318-8273) at NOAO.
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