(Above) The same photo (and to the same scale) as the true color photo to the left; but this is a false-color isophote version showing the large faint extension of the spherical outer coma.

(At left) The same image as the first, except the composite was made by following the stars - thus the comet is trailed. The image is enlarged to show the faintest stars - which are about the 17th magnitude. The white circle shows the location of the position predicted by elements from MPC 52905 (downloaded 11/26/2004 from www.harvard.edu). The comet's observed position is about 4.5 arc-minutes east of the predicted position. This is a significant distance - most probably caused by gravitational pertubation (such as the Earth), or non-gravitational effects (such as jet activity). (Newer elements may be available - I have not checked again recently.)

Near 8th magnitude, the comet was not immediately visible in my 7 by 50 finder; and there was no hint in the eyepiece at 45 power of any jet activity - or the large expanse of the coma recorded in this 16-min. exposure.

North is up, and east is to the left in all these photos. The light area in the NE corner is thermal fog from the on-chip amplifier at this location. (Meade claims in their ad that this amplifier fog does not exist.) The contrast has been increased in all images, but there is no change in color balance or unsharp masking.