First images of split comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3

Eso_eso9601b_1024

eso_eso9601b January 5th, 1996

Credit: ESO

This composite of four individual exposures shows the innermost area of the extended coma of Periodic Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. It demonstrates that its nucleus has recently split into three, probably four individual pieces.The upper three images were obtained on December 12, 13 and 14, 1995, through a red filtre and with the ESO Multi-Mode Instrument (EMMI) attached to the 3.5-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT). They show the presence of three condensations around the split nuclei, nearly aligned in the direction towards the Sun. They lie in or very near the orbital plane of the comet.A comparison of the images clearly shows that the distance between the two brightest condensations is slowly increasing and also that the brightness of the two fainter ones (in the middle and to the right) is variable. At the time of the observations, the comet was about 260 million kilometres from the Earth and the measured angular distance between the brightest condensations corresponds to a projected separation of about 5100 kilometres.The image at the bottom was obtained on December 12, 1995, at a wavelength near 10 micron with the Thermal Infrared Multi-Mode Instrument (TIMMI) at the ESO 3.6-metre telescope. The leftmost condensation is much brighter than the others at this wavelength; this indicates a much larger amount of dust. It is therefore likely that this condensation represents the denser dust cloud around the largest nucleus, and that the (smaller) pieces in the other condensations broke off from this one. On this image, there is a fainter, fourth condensation about 2 arcseconds directly south of the brightest one. The other features are quite faint and may not be real.This is eso9601b, which accompanies eso9601. This photo is available in GIF format on the World-Wide Web in a B/W (01/96-BW) as well as in a false-colour (01/96-COL) version. It may be reproduced, if credit is given to the European Southern Observatory. Peculiar Coma Shape of Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 ESO Press Photo eso9601; 5 January 1996

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso9601b/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

View Options

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
Subject - Solar System
Interplanetary Body > Comet

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor ESO-3.6m (TIMMI) Infrared (Near-IR) -
Pseudocolor NTT (EMMI) Optical (R) -
The top three images are from the New Technology Telescope (NTT) and the bottom is from the ESO 3.6-metre telescope.
Eso_eso9601b_1280
×
ID
eso9601b
Subject Category
A.2.2  
Subject Name
Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
Credits
ESO
Release Date
1996-01-05T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso9601b/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
N/A
Facility
ESO 3.6-metre telescope, New Technology Telescope
Instrument
TIMMI, EMMI
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor, Pseudocolor
Band
Infrared, Optical
Bandpass
Near-IR, R
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
T
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
478.0, 777.0
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso9601b
Metadata Date
2023-10-11T09:27:20.021014
Metadata Version
1.1
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×

There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

Providers | Sign In