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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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Rick
Stankiewicz,
Peterborough, Ontario
March 16 |
#1,
#2,
#3 |
Rick Stankiewicz: "A few shots
of Ikeya-Zhang from the light polluted skies of Peterborough,
Ontario. I took these March 16th (8:00 p.m.), using 800 ASA Centuria
Konica print film, in a Canon Ftb, and a 135mm lense @ f/2.8,
piggybacked on an ETX 90 telescope for about 2 minutes. The image
marked #2 was taken for 3 minutes and a jet flew through the frame." |
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Jim
Fantozzi,
Northern Michigan
March 16 |
#1 |
Jim Fantozzi, who took this picture
of Ikeya-Zhang with a 35 mm camera and 300 mm lens, echoes the
sentiments of many astronomers: "...this is an awesome comet!" |
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Mark
Hansen,
Roscommon, MI
March 16 |
#1 |
Mark Hansen took this image of the
comet from Roscommon, using a 35mm camera and 300mm lens. |
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Francisco
Rodriguez Ramirez,
Canary Islands, Spain
March 16 |
#1,
#2,
#3 |
Images by Francisco Rodriguez, showing
Ikeya-Zhang over the lights of the Canary Islands. All three images
were captured with 35-second exposures on Fuji Superia 1600 ASA
film. The comet's magnitude was estimated at 3.7. |
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Randy
Brewer,
Fort McKavitt, Texas
March 15,
16 |
#1,
#2 |
Two images of comet Ikeya-Zhang
by Randy Brewer, from Fort McKavitt, Texas. Taken March 15th and
16th. |
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DJ
Hanson ,
SE of Boise, Idaho
March 15 |
#1 |
DJ Hanson: "On a cold night
the Comet even masked the light pollution of nearby Boise, Idaho.
Photograph was taken using a Nikon F/Nikkor 135mm f/3.5 camera/lens,
Fugi Superia 800 film, untracked at 15 seconds on a tripod. 15
March 2002, 03:30 UT." |
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Borjan
Mukaetov & Dimitar Vlahov,
Skopje, Macedonia
March 14,
15 |
#1,
#2, #3 |
Comet Ikeya-Zhang as seen from the
capital of Macedonia, Skopje. Each image is a five-minute exposure
obtained by Macedonia's observatory, Skopsko Astronomsko Drushtvo. |
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Jörgen
Blom,
Stockholm, Sweden
March 14 |
#1 |
Jörgen Blom imaged Ikeya-Zhang
using using Fuji 800 negative film and a 300mm lens, while the
comet was 10 degrees above the horizon. |
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Dr.
P. Clay Sherrod, Arkansas Sky Observatory, Arkansas, USA
March 14 |
#1 |
Clay Sherrod: "Although not
getting significantly brighter the comet is growing immensely,
as attested in this image which shows considerable numbers of
delicate tail streamers. The magnitude of the comet tonight was
slightly brighter than the 3.8 magnitude star Alrescha." |
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Charles
Kiesel,
Fort Branch, Indiana
March 13 |
#1,
#2 |
Charles Kiesel sent us two nice
images of Ikeya-Zhang, including a unique airplane trail. He used
a 200mm lens and 800 speed film. The timed exposures were about
2 minutes long. |
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Denis
Bergeron,
Quebec, Canada
March 13 |
#1,
#2, #3,
#4, #5 |
Five nice images -four in color-
of Ikeya Zhang by Denis Bergeron of Canada. The series includes
a two-frame animation
of the comet. |
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Runar
Sandnes,
Norway
March 13 |
#1,
#2 |
Runar Sandnes took these images
of comet Ikeya-Zhang with Kodak Royal 400 film. Each image represents
a 2-minute exposure. |
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Phillip
Hoffman ,
USA
March 13 |
#1 |
Phil Hoffman captured this image
of Ikeya-Zhang on March 13 with a 105mm lens mounted on a homemade
barn-door star tracker. He adjusted the brightness and contrast
in Photoshop. |
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Gil
Jones, Tucson, Arizona
March 11,
12 |
#1,
#2 |
Gil Jones: "It appears I caught
a disruption event in the tail of comet Ikeya-Zhang on the evening
of 3/11/02. I re-imaged the comet on 3/12/02 and the tail had
re-stabilized. Each frame in the mozaic is 10x15second exposures
using an ST-237A CCD camera on a C8 with Fastar at F1.95." |
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