Images of comet Ikeya-Zhang (courtesy of Dr. Chris Proctor (TAS))

Comet Linear put on quite a respectable show in mid July 2000. It never became visible to the unaided eye, but looked nice in a small telescope, with a bright star-like head and fan shaped tail. Then on July 27th it began to fade dramatically. Over the next few days the head almost vanished, leaving a wisp of tail the only obvious remnant of the comet. Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope in Chile showed that the comet had completely disintegrated, breaking up into a large number of small pieces. It is quite common for comets to break up around perihelion (their closest approach to the Sun), suggesting that they are not solid objects but loose aggregations of ice and dust - flying gravel piles.

By Dr. Chris Proctor.

Taken from Orley Common, Ipplepen, Devon on 1996 April 20th at 20:30 UT with a 20 second exposure using an 85mm, f1.9 lens onto Ektachrome 400 uprated to 800 iso. Scanned at 200dpi.

By Dr. Chris Proctor

Most of these image were taken from Hope's Nose, Torquay, Devon on 1997 February 8th at 06:00 UT with a 5 minute exposure using an 85mm, f1.9 lens onto Ektachrome Elite II 400 iso. Scanned at 200dpi.

Some were also taken from Corndon Down, Dartmoor on 1997 April 11th at 00:55 UT with a 4 minute exposure using an 85mm, f1.9 lens onto Ektachrome Elite II 400 iso. Scanned at 200dpi.