Credit: Hubble image: NASA, ESA, and H. Weaver (The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory) Ground-based image: A. Dyer, Alberta, Canada
The Hubble image at right, taken Nov. 4 with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, shows the heart of the comet. The central portion of the image has been specially processed to highlight variations in the dust distribution near the nucleus. About twice as much dust lies along the east-west direction (the horizontal direction) as along the north-south direction (the vertical direction), giving the comet a "bow tie" appearance. The composite color image at left, taken Nov. 1 by astrophotographer Alan Dyer, shows the complex structure of the entire coma, consisting of concentric shells of dust and a faint tail emanating from the comet's right side. The observations were made in southern Alberta, Canada with a 105mm apochromatic refractor at f/5 with a Canon 20Da camera at ISO400. Field is about 2.5 x 1.5 degrees.