[BAA Comets] C/2012 F6 Lemmon

[denis buczynski]

Hello all,
I imaged this comet last night and saw that there continues to be an amount of material forward of 
the coma in the form of a forward spike. Is this due to the perspective effect of us passing through 
the comet's orbital plane,in the same way that we saw the huge forward tail extension on C/2011 L4 
PanSTARRS earlier this year? Are these forward tail spikes the same features as the so called 
anti-tails as seen on the famous 1957 comet, C/1957 R1 Arend-Roland? Are we seeing more examples of 
this type of feature on comet tails because our  digital detectors are much more sensitive than 
photographic films and plates were in the past? There was a good deal of interest  and surprise in 
the phenomena of anti-tails when one was seen in images of C/19657 R1 Arend-Roland, yet we seem less 
excited when we see this phenomena on a comet image these days.Is this because we understand all 
aspects of comet tail development and viewing perspective?

My image from last night is posted at these links:
http://britastro.org/baa/index.php?view=detail&id=1473&option=com_joomgallery&Itemid=200
http://britastro.org/baa/index.php?view=detail&id=1474&option=com_joomgallery&Itemid=200

Denis Buczynski
Secretary Comet Section
British Astronomical Association