Tempel 1 Sketches, April 1983

The drawings were made by Jean-Claude Merlin (France) while using a 26-cm reflector, and span a time period from April to June 1983, just months before perihelion on July 9. The drawings were published in the ICQ 52, Vol. 6, No. 4, 80-83.

The drawings were oriented with north = down. The eastern direction is being determined. For the April 13 drawing, the position angle was 294 degrees and the phase angle was 14 degrees. The comet was a few degrees above the ecliptic. Since the phase angle is small, the tail should be ~behind the nucleus. For the June 2 drawing, the position angle was 299 degrees and the phase angle was 36 degrees. The comet was very close to the ecliptic.

CREDIT: Jean-Claude Merlin