Comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake on 04-07-96
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Here are my last three pictures of Hyakutake. In the night from April 7th
to April 8th I observed the comet together with Wolfgang Howurek somewhere 
between Niederleis and Grafensulz in Lower Austria/Europe. Humidity was 
high and near the horizon there was some dust in the air, but above stars 
could be seen down to 5.5 mag. The comet could be seen as a "needle", 
about 8 degrees long, two degrees northeast of the star Algol in Perseus. 
Venus was very bright (-4.4 mag), standing near to the Pleijades. The 
wide-angle photo shows the scene as it could be seen with the naked eye.

The camera I used was my YASHICA TL-Electro which I mounted piggy-back on my
Meade 8" f/10 telescope for guiding, using a 10mm-crosshair eyepiece. The 
comet didnīt move much during the exposures.
The film I used was a Fuji SuperHG 1600 ASA for keeping the exposure times 
short.

Description of the photo:
  
   The comet using a 50mm standard lens:
   -------------------------------------
   Exposure start: 19h40 UT, exposure time: 11 minutes.
   With the naked eye the comet's tail could only be traced until the Perseus
   star association (near to the center of the picture), but on this photo it 
   is about 2 1/2 times as long, measuring more than 20 degrees. The slightly
   brighter star left of the coma is Algol, Beta Persei. On the right side 
   under the coma the galactic cluster M34 can be seen as diffuse spot. The
   bightest star in the picture (near the upper left corner) is Capella, 
   Alpha Aurigae. On it's right side the short trail of a meteor can be seen,
   which I didn't even notice while taking the picture.

In that night the comet wasnīt anymore as impressive as during the nights when it 
was closest to the earth, but it was still quite a showpiece in the night sky.

Clear skies,
  Walter Koprolin.