Crossing a Comet's Tail 

Ulysses encounters Comet Hyakutake
Image courtesy Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council and David A. Hardy.

For a full-resolution version, please contact the PPARC press office.

Members of the Imperial College Space & Atmospheric Physics Group and
Queen Mary and Westfield College's Astronomy Unit recently discovered
that on May 1, 1996, the Ulysses spacecraft
crossed the tail of Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake).

Here, we provide some information about the comet and the crossing of its tail by Ulysses.

Comets

What are they?

Background information on the comet encountered by Ulysses.
 

The tail crossing
How the tail crossing was found, and how the comet was identified. Includes an animation of the tail.
Home page of the Imperial College magnetometer team.
Includes links to other sites.

Media coverage of the Ulysses comet tail crossing.
IC

The Space and Atmospheric Physics Group is part of the Physics Department of Imperial College, London. Ulysses work at Imperial College is funded by the United Kingdom Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.

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