Comet Hyakutake

March 16, 1996 08:10 UT
Instrument: 10-inch Starfinder

The sketch at left renders the comet's appearance at 82X (13.8-mm Meade SWA eyepiece) in my 10-inch Starfinder equatorial. A bright stellar nucleus is embedded within a 12' diameter coma. Pairs of bright bow shocks extend 20' to the northwest and southwest, respectively. A broad tail extends beyond the field of view to the west. The bright star near the eastern edge is magnitude 5.5 Xi 2 (15) Librae. The star at the southwestern edge is magnitude 9.3 HD 131481. The comet appears to be at 3.0 magnitude with a 1.5 degree tail to the naked eye.


March 14, 1996 March 22, 1996

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