Here is a series of photos of Comet Hale-Bopp taken from the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, about 4 days after perihelion. The photos were taken at approximately 20:15 on 4 April HST (06:15 April 5 UT).
This is a rather overexposed photo showing the ocean at the end of twilight, and Comet Hale-Bopp with a bright meteor passing close to it.
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Watching Comet Hale-Bopp.
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Here is a close-up view of the comet. The diffuse dust tail and the narrower blue ion tail are both clearly visible. The ion tail is shaped by the solar wind and points almost directly away from the Sun. The dust tail has a more curved shape, caused by radiation pressure from the force of the light that the dust particles absorb. The dust particles follow trajectories that are a combination of their orbital inertia and the outward push from the sunlight.
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Photographs by UH astronomer Richard J. Wainscoat
Creation: Wed Apr 11 18:20 1997
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