Comet 240p Neat - A comet within a comet
in the evening sky
1/14/26

 
 Here
            is a very rare example of a comets nucleus splitting into two
            pieces, and the second smaller piece drifting away develops its
            own small tail. In a sense, we have two comets here - part a
            and part b. In this case, the secondary is seen inside the tail
            of the primary comet, thus a comet within a comet so to speak.
            Also note the yellowish coloration of the comets. This is due
            to reflection in dust of the suns light.

            
10" f/3.9 Newtonian Astrograph

Select an image size for a larger view:

1600 x 1200
            



-Date/Time Local: 1/14/26   11:15 pm MST
-Date/Time UT:  1/15/26   6:15 UT
-FOV:  94' x 75'
-Orientation: N up
-Seeing: 2
-Transparency: 6
-Orig. Scale: 1.2 arcsec/Pixel
-Instrument:  10" f/3.8 Newt
-Exposure:  60 min total
-Camera:  Atik 16200
-Location:  Payson,AZ

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