Comet 2001 A2 LINEAR
June 17, 2001


Comet 2001A2 LINEAR. June 17, 2001.
Combination of 4, 1 minute exposures, Meade 416xt CCD. 300mm f/6 newtonian at prime focus.

Following perihelion, the comet re-appeared in the morning sky as a very beautiful object. The magnitude was around 3.4 and made an impressive sight from a dark location. The coma was a very distinct greenish colour, well condensed and about 10' across visually and over 20' on photographs! The tail was faint as is typical with very gaseous comets, but could still be followed for some 5 degrees visually and nearly 15 degrees on photographs!

In the above image, the image has been processed to show enhance the central condensation. The image below is the same image but has been combined using a median filter to remove the stars, and then processed to show more of the outer coma. Notice how the coma is very asymetric. Again, very typical of gaseous comets.


Comet 2001A2 LINEAR. June 17, 2001.
20 minutes exposure. Fuji Super G 400 film. 300mm f/2.8 Canon lens.