New Pictures - And what the heck are those mysterious waves all about???

Finally, a clear morning in Houston!! The comet was quite bright and easy to see even after the sun started coming up!! This is a 1/4 second exposure taken just before sunrise on March the 8th with a 5 inch Takahashi refractor. A rather interesting "bulge" in the comet coma - it's not symetrical.

This second picture is taken from the same data. It's blown up and the contrast has been adjusted to reveal detail closer to the nucleus. Note: This second picture is oriented the same way as the above picture. I know, it looks like I rotated the picture 90 degrees but I didn't.

On the above shot, the tail is moving out toward the "2 o'clock" position on the clock...but in the lower "tighter" shot, the bulk of material being ejected is ejected toward the "4 o'clock" position, nearly right angles to the tail.

Remember, both pictures have the same orientation and come from the same data!

And What about the "waves???"

Also notice in the lower picture how the material is coming off in what appears to be a "wave-like" fashion. There are a couple of light and dark "crests" coming off from the brighter round area of the nucleus. These "waves" are even visible in the eyepiece of my smaller (3") telescope.

And I am not the first to notice these waves. Here's a couple of examples of the "waves" showing up better when a really close up of the nucleus region is photographed..

This "wave" phenomenon is very very strange!!!

and here's some pictures from Italy that really show the "waves."

Is the comet breaking up??

These pictures were taken on the same day (March 8th) as mine with a larger (16 inch) telescope. Enhancement of the nucleus region show the nucleus may have split into 4 to 6 pieces. These pictures also show the same odd "wave" effect.