Comet Hale Bopp Photographs
In the early Spring of 1997, Comet Hale Bopp swept through the Solar System giving Earth-bound stargazers spectacular views of this deep space visitor. Comet Hale Bopp from Dunkirk, Maryland 1997 March 22, Nikkor 35mm f/2.0 Comet Hale Bopp from Haymarket, Virginia 1997 April 02, Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 Comet Hale Bopp from La Plata, Maryland Do you really need dark skies to get a good look at the comet?This shot is contaminated with light pollution from Washington, DC.La Plata is along the flight path of National Airport, so plane lights trail through the most time exposures! 1997 April 03, Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 Comet Hale Bopp from Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 1997 April 07, Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 Comet Hale Bopp from Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 1997 April 07, Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 Comet Hale Bopp, Pleiades Star Cluster and Crescent Moon 1997 April 09, Nikkor 50mm f/2.8 Comet Hale Bopp from Shenandoah National Park, Virginia 1997 April 09, Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 Comet Hyakutake from Dunkirk, Maryland 1996 March 27, Nikkor 50mm f/2.0 Comet Hyakutake from Dunkirk, Maryland 1996 March 27, Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 Comet Halley from New Zealand 1986 March, Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 Comet Bennett from Staten Island, New York 1970 March, Perti 50mm f/2 Comet Bennett from Staten Island, New York 1970 March, Perti 135mm f/3.5Comet Hale Bopp Photos!
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10 seconds on Fuji Super G 800 Plus
©1997 Photo by Fred Espenak
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8 minutes on Fuji Super G 800 Plus
©1997 Photo by Fred Espenak
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4 minutes on Fuji Super G 800 Plus
©1997 Photo by Fred Espenak
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5 minutes on Fuji Super G 800 Plus
©1997 Photo by Fred Espenak
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5 minutes on Fuji Super G 800 Plus
©1997 Photo by Fred Espenak
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Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
2 minutes on Fuji Super G 800 Plus
©1997 Photo by Fred Espenak
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5 minutes on Fuji Super G 800 Plus
©1997 Photo by Fred EspenakOther Comets!
Here's a blast from the past! Remember 1996's surprise comet Hykutake? How does it compare to Comet Hale Bopp?Take a look for yourself in these photos. Hykutake had very little dust but it had a lot of gas. As a result, Hykutake had a long bright gas (ion) tail which is blue in color. In comparison, Comet Hale-Bopp produced a lot of gas AND dust, so it had two tails. The gas or ion tail was blue while the dust tail was while (from reflected sunlight).
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45 seconds on Kodak Royal Gold 1000
©1996 Photo by Fred Espenak
Comet Halley made it's last appearance in 1986. Unfortuantely, Earth was in the wrong part of it's orbit for a good view. Nevertheless, many people traveled south of the equator where the comet was visible as it passed through the southern Milky Way.
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4 minutes on Kodak Royal Gold 1000
©1996 Photo by Fred Espenak
Comet Bennett was a spectacular comet visible in the morning sky during the spring of 1970. There was little publicity for it because its appearance was fairly sudden.
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5 minutes on Fuji 400D pushed to EI800
©1986 Photo by Fred Espenak
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30 seconds on Tri-X
©1970 Photo by Fred Espenak
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15 seconds on Tri-X
©1970 Photo by Fred EspenakLinks to more Astrophotos
For a collection of solar eclipse photographs, see:
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All photographs are ©Copyright 2001 by Fred Espenak. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced, published, copied or transmitted in any form, including electronically on the Internet or CD-ROM, without written permission of Fred Espenak. High resolution versions of these images are available as both digital files or 35 mm slides. For more information, contact Fred Espenak via MrEclipse.
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Last revised: 2003 Dec 27