Nucleus of Comet Hale-Bopp



Full Frame - field of view is approximately 23 x 17 arc minutes (a little smaller than the size of the moon). Two distinct tails can be seen streaming toward the lower-right of the image. The lower (western) tail and the jets from the nucleus on that side are stronger than the upper tail and jets. The nucleus has been overexposed to increase the details of the tail.


Zoomed in on the nucleus - a 6 second exposure; field of view is approximately 6 arc minutes square. All other parameters including orientation, as above. This image shows details near the nucleus that are lost in the image above. The jets are clearly asymmetrical and there is much less out-gassing on the side that is away from the sun (lower-right of image).


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