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Summary: In Early
March 2002, Comet Ikeya-Zhang became a naked-eye fuzzball in the evening
sky. It soon brightened to 3rd magnitude and delighted sky watchers
with its remarkable photogenic tail. The comet even had a stunning close
encounter with the Andromeda Galaxy. But all good things must come to
an end. On April 30th, Ikeya-Zhang made its closest approach to Earth
(0.41 AU) and since then has been receding toward the outer solar system.
The fading fuzzball now (on May 2, 2002) glows like a 5th
magnitude star at the limit of naked-eye visibility. Soon it will
be impossible to see without a telescope. So farewell, Ikeya-Zhang!
It was a great show while it lasted.
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Spaceweather.com
wishes to thank all those who submitted to the Comet Ikeya-Zhang
gallery! The comet is now fading, and the gallery is now closed
to submissions.
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Unless
otherwise stated, all images are copyrighted by the photographers.
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Photographer, Location,
Date |
Larger images |
Comments |
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Benjamin
Kuhne,
Eifel, Cologne
April 6 |
#1,
#2 |
Benjamin Kuhne, of Cologne, captured
these images of Comet Ikeya-Zhang and Andromeda. Each image represents
a 16-second exposure with an Olympus camera and ISO 400 film.
Image #1 was taken with a 60mm lens, and #2 with a 150mm lens. |
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Dr.
P. Clay Sherrod,
Arkansas
April 6 |
#1 |
Clay Sherrod: "Ikeya-Zhang is now
a morning comet! This image was taken through the big telescope's
4" guide refractor at f/2.8 at about 4:50 a.m. CST!" |
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Rudolf
Hillebrecht,
Juneau, Alaska
April 5 |
#1 |
Rudolf Hillebrecht: "Comet Ikeya-Zhang
is seen passing M31, the blue gas tail stretching out over 11.5
degrees, in this special pano-view which has been put together
from four parts (and 20 single images in them). Images were taken
with a 1.8/200 Canon telelens and D-30 digital camera." |
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Mark
Farmer,
Juneau, Alaska
April 5 |
#1 |
Mark Farmer captured this image
at Bridget Cove, 40 miles north of Juneau, Alaska. He used an
Olympus camera with a 55mm f/1.2 lens. Recorded on Fuji Provia
400 film. |
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Juan
Carlos Casado,
Figueres, Spain
April 5 |
#1 |
Juan Carlos Casado took this image
at an elevation of 1123 meters, in the Oriental Pyrenees. The
image represents a 7-minute exposure on New Superia 1600 film,
with a 300mm f/2.8 telephoto lens. |
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Jorgen
Blom,
Stockholm, Sweden
April 5 |
#1,
#2,
#3 |
Jorgen Blom "These three pictures
of Ikeya-Zhang -together with Andromeda- were taken on April 5th
with ISO 400 slide film and three different lenses: 300, 135 and
29mm." |
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Pekka
Parviainen,
Finland
April 4,
5 |
#1,
#2,
#3 |
Pekka Parviainen of Finland captured
these high-contrast images of the comet and M31, on April 4th
and 5th. |
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Timo
Leponiemi,
Renko, Finland
April 5 |
#1 |
Timo Leponiemi captured this image
of the comet from Finland, using a Nikon camera with 180mm. lens
at f/2.8, and Fuji Provia 400 film, pushed 1 stop. |
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Marco
Verstraaten,
The Netherlands
April 5 |
#1,
#2 |
Marco Verstraaten took these two
images of Comet Ikeya-Zhang with a 300mm. telescope. Each comprises
a 4-minute exposure on Fuji 400 film, under light-polluted conditions.. |
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Alex
Roca and Angels Escuer,
Hortoneda, Spain
April 4, 5 |
#1,
#2 |
Alex Roca and Angels Escuer: "We
think that these two pictures are the best of our series."
They captured the images with a Konica camera and 135mm lens at
f/3.5 and Fuji 100 ISO film, mounted on a hand-guided telescope. |
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Gabriele
Vanin,
Avena, Italy
March
31, April
4 |
#1,
#2 |
An series of images of Comet Ikeya-Zhang,
by Gabriele Vanin, captured March 31st and April 4th. The first
image used 1600 Kodak film and was a 4-minute exposure. The second
image used 400 Kodak film, with an exposure time of 8 minutes. |
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