This image of comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR) was taken on July 15 as the comet streaked through our solar system on its way to perihelion, or its closest approach to the sun. The comet was moving so quickly, the background stars changed position as the CCD tracked the comet. The length of the star trails in this exposure provide an indication of how fast the comet was moving at the time these exposures were made. This comet was discovered by the Lincoln Laboratory Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project.
This is a composite CCD image of sixteen 30 second exposures taken with an ST-8E using a 5 inch Takahashi FS-128 refractor telescope at f8. The image was taken from my backyard in surburban Scottsdale, Arizona.
Constellation: Camelopardalis
RA: 04h 54m 29.4s Dec: +62d 29' 44"
July 15, 2000
Image by Sid Leach
Scottsdale, Arizona
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