Hello all. Here are some photographs of Hale Bopp all taken on March 9th 1997. They are from all over the globe, most show a vastly different picture of what is supposed to be the same object (comet). In some the Ion tail is on the right, others it is on the left, relative to the dust tail. Some the Ion tail is very long, others very short. Some the Coma is very big, others much smaller. Some show no visible Ion tail at all. How can the perspective of a few hundred, or even thousand miles difference on the same night change the angle between the Ion and dust tail? I realize that the Oakley Ca. example may be a reversed image and an accident. But even so, the angle between the two tails, and the length and width of them varies so much.

I see so many other instances of widly different photos, I can't help myself, I think of it in terms of a mirage. Different angles, different perspectives, different images. Is there an appropriate answer for angle between tails, and tail length and width differences?

Hale Bopp on March 9th 1997

Hale Bopp on March 9th 1997 Per Bob Yen

Dan