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Photographer:

Mike Olason

Location of Photo:

Tucson, Arizona

Date/Time of photo:

2026 February 8, 1242UT

Equipment:

50mm f/5 Refractor and IMX462 camera

Description:

This animation gif of Comet C/2026 B2 (Sun-Gao) observes 23 minutes in the life of the comet from 1242-1305UT on the morning of 2026 February 8 with the comet low in the southeast skies just before dawn. The gif is composed of 6 images each 18x10 seconds long with a field of view of 0.3 x 0.3 degrees. The comet was magnitude 13.5 (brighter than predicted), with a greenish coma 0.9' wide and no tail visible. The comet was at perihelion on January 9 when it was 119 million miles from the Sun and made its nearest approach to Earth on January 30 when it was 188 million miles from Earth.