Break-up of comet Linear

A computer-processed composite of three CCD exposures of the head of Comet LINEAR, obtained with VLT ANTU and the multi-mode FORS-1 instrument through a R(ed) optical filter on August 6, 2000. The telescope followed the comet's fast motion perfectly during the duration of the exposures (9, 10 and 8 min, respectively) and the images of the stars in the field appear as long trails. More than a dozen "mini-comets" are seen — they are pieces from the comet's disintegrating nucleus. Image processing by Richard Hook (ST/ECF, Garching) suppressed the bright part of the comet's tail in order to provide a clearer view of the faint condensations (by means of a median combination of registered, unsharp masked versions of the three images). The observing conditions were good; the image quality is about 0.6 arcsec. The field shown measures about 3.4 x 2.5 arcmin 2. North is up and East is left.

Crédito:

ESO

Sobre la imagen

Identificador:eso0026a
Tipo:Observación
Fecha de publicación:8 de Agosto de 2000
Noticias relacionadas:eso0026
Tamaño:2000 x 1446 px

Sobre el objeto

Nombre:C/1999 S4 (LINEAR)
Tipo:Solar System : Interplanetary Body : Comet
Categoría:Solar System

Formatos de imagen

JPEG grande
199,4 KB

Fondo de pantalla

1024x768
299,7 KB
1280x1024
407,0 KB
1600x1200
527,9 KB
1920x1200
564,6 KB
2048x1536
713,0 KB

Colores y filtros

BandaTelescopio
Óptico
R
Very Large Telescope
FORS1