Wide field image

This is an image obtained with the 0.91-meter Spacewatch Telescope of
the University of Arizona Observatories on Kitt Peak in Arizona by
Jim Scotti, on 1993 March 30 at a mid-time of 07:26:13 UT.  The
total integration time was 440 seconds.  North is to the right and
East is at the top.  The image scale is 1.076 arcseconds per pixel
and the field of view is 9.2 arcminutes, approximately square.  
Note the various structures visible in this image.  Namely, the 
train of individual nuclei aligned along a position angle of 77 to 
257 degrees.  Approximately 11 nuclei are visible in this image of 
the train, spread out over 51 arcseconds (or about 170,000 kilo-
meters).  A tail extends from each of the nuclei approximately 1 
arcminute towards p.a. 285 degrees, with a brighter component extending
from the brightest nucleus out to about 1.2 arcminutes.  Dust trails
extend off the edges of the fram to more than 10 arcminutes in p.a. 
260 degrees and 6 arcminutes in p.a. 75 degrees.  Notice also that 
the southern margin of the dust trails is relatively sharp while the 
northern margin is more diffuse.  This may be due to smaller particles 
being blown off by the solar wind.

Narrow field image

This is an image obtained with the 2.3-meter telescope of the University
of Arizona Observatories on Kitt Peak in Arizona by Wieslaw Wisniewski
on 1993 March 28 at a mid-time of 06:45:32 UT.  The total integration
time was 300 seconds.  North is to the right and East is at the top.
The field of view is 1.3 arcminutes square.  This is a close-up of the
nuclear train showing at least 12 individual nuclei embedded within.  
Notice that the southern boundary of the nuclear train is very sharp 
compared to the northern boundary.

ESO Schmidt Telescope photographs both Jupiter and Comet

A unique photographic plate was taken with the ESO 1-metre Schmidt
telescope by ESO night assistant Guido Pizarro during the night of
July 11-12, 1994.  The very bright image of Jupiter appears as a huge
dark spot on this long exposure, and the cometary fragments, about 100
million times fainter than the planet, are also clearly visible below
and to the right of the centre in the outskirts of the Jupiter halo,
at about 4:30 o'clock relative to Jupiter. They show up as a short 
string of individual nuclei in a line of dust that points directly 
towards the planet. Only a large photographic instrument like this 
is able to show the comet and Jupiter at the same time.

This plate is now on its way to the photographic laboratory at the ESO
Headquarters in Garching where it will be photographically
enhanced. It is expected that it will be available early next week. This 
provisional, scanned version (that certainly cannot compete with the
original and much less with the photographically enhanced copy to be
made) gives a first impression. It only shows a very small section of
the original plate.