On January 7th, 2005, the tail of the comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2) was moving over the Plejades starcluster. Just after the ion tail was disrupted. Some days before the ion tail was bright (clearly visible in a binocular under dark skies) and well structured. After the break the tail is now very thin and faint. I wasn´t able to detect it or parts of it in the binocular longer. The break is visible in my image. On the last images I took that night, the break point was moved into the Plejades! I think the developement of this comet is quite dramatic. I´m looking forward to see what happens in the next days and weeks. And I wish everybody who wants to hunt the comet clear skies. Bigger version: http://www.astromeeting.de/comets/050107a.htm Image data: Date + Time: Jan 7, 2005 / 21:30 - 22:06 UT Location: Oberjoch, Bavaria, Germany Optics: Tamron telephoto lens 2.8/300mm @ f/4-5.6 Kamera: SBIG STL 11000M with SBIG RGB filterset Exposure Time(s): - 16x 60 seconds (2x2 binning) for the stars - 6x 60 seconds (2x2 binning) for the comet (luminance) - R(90)G(60)B(90): 2 frames (3x3 binning) for each color Mount: Astro-Physics 400 QMD Guiding: Self-guiding on a star Best, Stefan http://www.astromeeting.de