Comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR)

Comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR)

This is an animation of comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR), prior to its spectacular break-up into smaller fragments. Here are some details of the animation:
  • Date: 2000 July 23 (UT)
  • Number of images: 11
  • Time of exposure for each image: 10 seconds
  • Time between images: 28.7 seconds
  • Position of comet at 0h UT: RA = 10h 15.1m, Dec = +51° 34.9'

The comet was very low in the sky, and as the animation advances, you may notice the bright star in the middle drift to the left. We believe that this was due to atmospheric refraction, rather than being a tracking problem. These images were all adjusted so that the brightness of the comet would be constant, which means that when a cloud passed overhead, the sky appeared brighter rather than the comet dimming.

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