Hale-Bopp Over Kuju

Comet Hale-Bopp over Kuju Japan
Sketch and Details by Kiminori Ikebe

It is well past the best time for visual observation but I was mesmerized by the comet setting in a very transparent evening sky. A very bright rather open tail was visible to the naked eye clearly.

C/199501 Comet Difficulty level: 0/5
Hale-Bopp
Date of observation: 1997.05.04 20:19
Observing site: Kuju
Transparency/seeing/sky darkness: 2/2/1
Instruments:Naked eye

Comet Hale-Bopp nucleus
Sketch and Details by Kiminori Ikebe

A dual shell structure is clearly visible at high magnifications. The nucleus is very bright, probably at magnitude -0.5. The nucleus is almost stellar but appears rather misshapen and elongated with a close look. A spiral structure in front of the nucleus extends counter-clock-wise. Another arc-like structure is clearly seen in front of the spiral structure. There is no further detail visible, but it is rather dark right behind the nucleus with bright areas lying on both sides of the nucleus.

C/1995O1 Comet difficulty level: 0/5
Hale-Bopp
Date of observation: 1997/03/30 20:20
Observing site: Hoshinomura
Transparency/seeing/sky darkness: 3/3/2
Instruments: Muron 210, TPL10.5, and star diagonal
Magnification: 230x
Width of field: 0.2 degree