Adaptive Optics Image of Comet Hale-Bopp
The image shows innermost part of the comet's head. It is reproduced from an image that was obtained by Anne-Marie Lagrange, Jean Luc Beuzit and Patrice Bouchet on August 16-17, 1995, with the ADONIS adaptive optics instrument at the 3.6-metre telescope on La Silla. It is a composite of three 1-minute exposures through an infrared K-filtre centered at wavelength 2.2 microns. The field measures 13 x 13 arcseconds. The pixel size is 0.05 arcseconds. North is up and east is to the left. On this photo, the central condensation of the comet is clearly extended; it measures about 1.7 arcseconds across (FWHM), or about 7700 kilometres at the distance of the comet. It represents the densest part of the cloud of dust particles that surrounds the cometary nucleus. An asymmetric coma (dust cloud) extends towards the North.
Credit:
ESO
About the Image
| Id: | eso9520b |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 25 August 1995 |
| Related releases: | eso9520 |
| Size: | 509 x 513 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Comet Hale-Bopp |
| Type: | • Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Comet • X - Solar System |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Infrared K |
2.2 μm | ESO 3.6-metre telescope ADONIS |
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