Comet Lovejoy from Missouri
Skywatcher Victor Rogus took this photo from Jadwin, Mo. on Nov. 13, 2013.
Comet Lovejoy Near the Big Dipper
Located just off the handle of the Big Dipper in the constellation of Canes Venatici, comet Lovejoy is an easy binocular object at 5th magnitude. A bright, greenish coma and a tail are very evident in this three-minute exposure taken on the morning of Nov. 26 using a 6" Takahashi refractor located in New Mexico. At the time of this image, comet Lovejoy was 40 million miles from Earth and 88 million miles from the sun. It reaches perihelion (closest approach to the sun) on Dec. 22.
Comet Lovejoy Nucleus
Optical image of the structures surrounding the nucleus of the Comet Lovejoy, captured by FOCAS mounted on the Subaru Telescope. This image was taken in the early morning of Oct 31, 2013 in V-band (550 nm) with an exposure time of 5 seconds. The field of view is about 6 x 3 arcminutes. The lower-left inset shows the structures around the nucleus after adjusting the contrast in the image.
Comet ISON Photographed by Mike Hankey
Astrophotographer Mike Hankey sent in a photo of Comet ISON, taken on Nov. 10, 2013, from his location in Auberry, CA (near Fresno). He has been imaging ISON regularly since Sept 21 and noticed a more prominent jet in recent days.
Comet Linear 2012 X1 in Blue by John Chumack
Astrophotographer John Chumack sent SPACE.com this image of Comet Linear 2012 X1 taken on Oct. 28, 2013. “It reminds me of Comet Holmes from 2007,” Chumack wrote SPACE.com in an email. “It did the same thing and the coma expanded to become the largest thing in the solar system—larger than the sun!”
Comet Encke, Comet LINEAR, and Comet ISON by Scott MacNeill
Scott MacNeill of Frosty Drew Observatory sent SPACE.com this combination of three photographs captured on the morning of Oct. 26, 2013 from Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown, Rhode Island. The image shows Comet 2P Encke, Comet 2012 X1 LINEAR, and Comet 2012 S1 ISON.
Comet Lovejoy Seen in Long Island, NY
Observer Frank Mellilo took this photo of Comet Lovejoy from his home on Long Island.
Comet Linear 2012 X1 Inverted Image by John Chumack
Astrophotographer John Chumack sent SPACE.com this image of Comet Linear 2012 X1 taken on Oct. 28, 2013. “I managed a couple of quick shots before my CCD was flooded completely with light!” Chumack wrote SPACE.com in an email.
Comet Linear 2012 X1 by John Chumack
Astrophotographer John Chumack sent SPACE.com this image of Comet Linear 2012 X1 taken on Oct. 28, 2013.
Comet ISON by Scott Ferguson
Scott Ferguson captured this image of Comet ISON on Oct. 27 while at a friend's private observatory, Northwest Florida Observatory. He used a 20" Meade LX400-ACF Max Mount and Televue NP101 to capture the photo, which was sent to SPACE.com on Oct. 30.
Comet ISON Photographed by Adam Block
Adam Block of the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter (University of Arizona), sent in another image of Comet Ison, taken Nov. 8, 2013. He writes in an e-mail message to SPACE.com: "This is exactly one month after the previous picture I captured. It is now significantly brighter (unfortunately not yet visible to unaided eyeballs). However, it is also moving much more quickly so that capturing it at this image scale is a bit tricky. Very soon it will head into the glare of the sun. Hopefully we can monitor it via images from space-based solar telescopes as it rounds the sun at the end of the month."
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