On April 20, 1996 H. Fukushima and N. Yamamoto of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan photographed the Hale-Bopp Comet. They used the observatory's 50cm Reflector and a CDD Camera. The photograph shows an anomalous feature on the edge of an "object" next to the "Comet". The photograph shows a funnel eminating from the top of the object and gradually dissipitating into space. Is this object the companion to Hale-Bopp? We are tracking down sources at the National Observatory in Japan for confirmation. We will keep you posted!

The above figure shows the temporal evolution of Comet Hale-Bopp over the course of about 1 year, as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. In the far-left frame we caught the comet about 60 hours after a huge outburst of dust, and the image shows an impressive spiral structure reminescent of a water sprinkler observed from above. The middle frame shows the comet during a more quiescent phase in which hardly any structure is seen in the coma without employing a strong intensity contrast in the display. The image at the far-right shows that the comet has now taken on a "porcupine" appearance as at least five jets can be seen sprouting from the nucleus. The nucleus of the comet is located at the center of each frame, but most of the light observed is due to scattered sunlight from fine dust grains that are emitted from the nucleus and which produce the cometary "coma". Each frame above is 10 arcsec across. For the far-left frame this corresponds to 47,000 km at the comet, for the middle frame this corresponds to 49,000 km at the comet, and for the far-right frame this correponds to 21,000 km at the comet. (The comet was much closer to the Earth during the September 1996 observations.)

By Alan Fitzsimmons and Martin Cartwright (Queen's University of Belfast). A jpeg image of Hale-Bopp obtained on 25th August 1996, using the 1m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope on La Palma using the cassegrain CCD camera plus R-band filter. The image is centered on the nucleus and is 19 arcsec by 19 arcsec. The spiral jet of material appears to extend over 5 arcsec from the nucleus, or over 25,000 km at the distance of the comet. This image may be freely used providing credit is given Alan Fitzsimmons & Martin Cartwright/Queen's University of Belfast.

While Hubble and major observatories are not revealing recent pictures some astronomers in New Mexico took these shots on the evening of July 23, 1996 (exactly 1 year to the day after Mr. Hale and Mr. Bopp discovered the comet.) They reveal that Hale-Bopp's nucleus apparently divided! Theories that this could have been a background star or a flaw in their imager have been rejected. To see more of this and read the story go to: http://www.halebopp.com/z05eyes.htm

Please note that this HST photo was taken of Hale Bopp when it was over 6 A.U. out. The Sun has limited gravitational effect upon the comet at this distance to cause gassing out or seismic activity. JPL states that the lower bright spot is the nucleus and that the upper bright spot is a "chunk" of material being sloughed away. Unless this comet is very unstable, there is no reason for the material to break away. There are only a couple of plausible explanations; First, if it is unstable, this would mean that a magnificent internal seismic event took place. Perhaps volcanic in nature. If that is the case, then there could be imaged several "chunks" at any later date, moving away from the comet. None have surfaced. Second; If this were a separating "chunk" of cometary material, it would not spiral around the nucleus in an apparent even fashion. It would move directly away from the nucleous, even if the nucleus is rotating as it appears. The image below graphically shows that it in fact does not move away.

This graphic image of the above reflects two different and important aspects of Hale Bopp. First the size of the comet. Since it doesn't appear likely that out-gassing could take place at this distance, this image is probably as close to the actual size of the comet that we may ever see (more on this later on the occultation page). This comet, as most comets, is not spherical. It is oblong and not a perfect shape at all. The distance of "C" is the broadest measurement at twelve thousand miles! Diameter times Pi = Circumference. If you don't have a calculator handy, that equals roughly 40,000 miles! This graphic also shows that the trail from the upper bright area is not moving away from what JPL calls the nucleus. A to B = A to X. A more plausible explanation would be that the upper bright spot and the lower bright spot is volcanic activity occuring on two different areas of the same body.

Comet Hale-Bopp may be visible during the total solar eclipse that runs through Mongolia and eastern Siberia on March 9, 1997. Further details are available through this link. Note that the predicted magnitude of the comet given in the eclipse write-up is somewhat more optimistic than what is presented on this page.

• December 1996 - January 1997: Comet brightens rapidly reaching 0-1 magnitude, but comet is within 38 degrees of the Sun. Difficult object for general public because it will be very low in the sky when visible.

• February - early March 1997: Comet remains low, but has become a brilliant object (0 magnitude or brighter). It should be easy to find given reasonable instructions. late

• March - early April 1997: Comet should be at its best. It is expected to be near its peak brightness (~-1 magnitude), and is at its farthest declination north. The best dates for observing the comet should be

• March 26 - April 12. During this period the Moon will not interfere (significantly). The comet will be in the northwest after sunset.