Post-perihelion observations of comet 1P/Halley

Deep CCD observations have been performed simultaneously with the three 8.2 m Very Large Telescopes at Paranal, in the direction of comet 1P/Halley, on March 6–8, 2003. The comet, at heliocentric distance AU, was convincingly detected (at ) on a composite of 32 284 s exposure, as a point-source located 1.4'' from the expected position. The object is also visible (at the level) on independent per-night or per-instrument composites, confirming the reality of the object, and the match of the observed motion over 3 consecutive nights with the predicted motion of 1P/Halley guarantees that this cannot be another Solar System object. The magnitude of the object, ± 0.13, is compatible with the average cross-section of the bare nucleus.