Comet Machholz on Jan 9, 2005 (Change of ion tail)


Date & Time: Jan 9 2005, 4shots composed with 90sec exposed.
Optical: TAKAHASHI 16cm(6.3") epsilon (f=530mm, F3.3)
Auto-guided with TAKAHASHI JP Equatorial
Digital Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro
Location: Ooizumi, Hokuto city, Yamanashi pref.

Camera Settings: Recording Format...12bit CCD-RAW, converted to 16bit TIFF(3024×2016)
CCD Sensitivity...ISO1600, White Balance...Auto


This set of images shows you the change of ion tail of comet Machholz for about 3 hours. It has a simple straight structure at 20:00, and then you can detect an outbreak of small "bend" structure around root part at 21:30. And the bend has been flowed to lower reaches at 23:00. The ion tail of comet Machholz is changing dramatically like a flag fluttering in the solar wind.


Rendez-vous of comet Machholz & M45
Machholz on Jan 7, 2005

Copyright(c) 2005 by Naoyuki Kurita, All rights reserved.
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