P/2003 O2 (LINEAR) diffuse coma
This is an enlargement of a single 30 second exposure (start time 2003
Jul 31 00:51:00 UT) used in the 15 image stack,
covering an area of 150" x 140".
Each pixel is 1.5"x1.5" and the coma appears to be about
10" in diameter and without condensation. Ideally the position should
be measured to an accuracy of better than 1".
It shows how diffuse the coma is and probably why a lot of the early
astrometry of this comet shows large residuals.
By stacking more images the coma becomes more defined and the accuracy
of measurement improves. The enlargement of the 15 image stack (below)
shows how much more defined the central region becomes with the extra
signal.
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