Some Astrophotos of Comet Hale-Bopp Taken in March and April 1997 by G. Lyzenga
The following photos were taken of Comet Hale-Bopp from various dark sky sites in southern California. All the pictures were guided exposures taken through a conventional camera and lens, mounted piggyback on a telescope which served as the guiding platform. All pictures were taken using Fuji Super G 800 Plus film, developed conventionally. The images here are scanned from color prints. Click on the thumbnail images to view the full-sized pictures.
1997 March 9, 12:18 UT
This image shows the comet before dawn on the morning of March 9 near Joshua Tree National Park. 10 minute guided exposure @ f/2, 50 mm f.l. Note the red emission at upper left from the famous North American Nebula in the constellation Cygnus.
1997 March 30, 3:28 UT
This image shows the comet on the evening of March 29 over the sand dunes near Kelso, CA in the East Mojave Scenic Area. 1 minute guided exposure @ f/2, 50 mm f.l. Below and to the left of the comet is the Andromeda galaxy (M31).
1997 April 6, 3:48 UT
This image shows the comet on the evening of April 5 from the Mojave desert east of Twentynine Palms, CA. 5 minute guided exposure @ f/4, 150 mm f.l. In addition to detail visible in both the dust and ion tails, the open star cluster M34 is visible to the left of the comet.
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Last updated 5/17/99.