Observation by Nick James: C/2022 E3 (ZTF) tail disconnection

Uploaded by

Nick James

Observer

Nick James

Observed

2023 Jan 19 - 04:58

Uploaded

2023 Jan 19 - 05:06

Objects

C/2022 E3

Equipment

ASI6200MM + Celestron HD11

Exposure

13x5x60s

Location

Chelmsford, UK

Target name

C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

Title

C/2022 E3 (ZTF) tail disconnection

About this image

The ion tail of C/2022 E3 (ZTF) shows a disconnection event this morning. The ion tail is caused by ions formed in the coma which get entrained in the solar wind and so are accelerated away from the Sun. The velocity of the solar wind is several hundred km/s and so the ion tail is very dynamic. Every now and again variations in the solar magnetic field cause the ion tail to break away and move downstream independent of the comet. This animation shows such a disconnection event moving down the tail. A new ion tail forms close in to the coma and, at the moment, this is a highly collimated, thin line.

This animation consists of 13 frames of approximately 5 minutes each obtained between 03:49 - 05:00 on 2023-01-19.

Files associated with this observation

2022e3_20230119_ndj.gif (7.8 MB)

Like this image

Mazin Younis, Bill Leatherbarrow, Simon Kidd, Marc Charron, Peter Tickner, Mike Harlow, Mark Fairfax, Martin Lewis, David Strange, Manolo_Rodriguez, Graham Winstanley, Mattia Piccoli, David Basey, Hugh Allen, Dean Norris, Peter Carson, Geof Lewis

Comments

Simon Kidd, 2023 Jan 19 - 09:50 UTC

Really great image!!

Nick James, 2023 Jan 19 - 22:06 UTC

Simon. Thanks. I wrote the software to do these animations a couple of years ago for C/2020 F3 (here is an example from then). I'm pleased it still works!

Nick James, 2023 Jan 20 - 07:54 UTC

Here's the equivalent timelapse from this morning (Jan 20):

https://nickdjames.com/Comets/2022E3/2022e3_20230120_ndj.gif

Much less going on.

This run of clear mornings is killing me.

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