[AZ-Observing] Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) Anti-Tail
- From: "Tom Polakis" <tpolakis@xxxxxxx>
- To: AZ-Observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 09:08:39 -0600
It looks like we are going to be in for the best comet show since 1997
next month. Check out the two images at the top of Charles Morris's Comet
Observation home page.
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/
They show a spectacular "anti-tail" to Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR). An
anti-tail is the micrometeoritic material that is left behind during the
many orbits of a comet: the same stuff that produces meteor showers. We
see an anti-tail best as we pass through a comet's orbital plane, when it
appears to point in the opposite direction as the tail. In this case, we
are a good 30 degrees out of the plane of the comet's orbit, evidenced by
the offset angle of the anti-tail from pointing sunward. If you have
planetarium software that enables you to plot the comet's orbit, the
picture will make more sense. The simulation I ran shows the viewing
geometry for seeing an anti-tail as not changing much over the next month.
This comet is making a brief appearance very low in the morning sky over
the next week before it goes well up into the evening sky next month.
Tom
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