http://web.archive.org/web/20041210145800/http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/solarsys/cap/comet/hb10.htm
I remember reading somewhere the ancient arab (before islam) tradition is the 'angel gabriel' had six hundred (or was it six thousand) wings...
Just like this one!
COMET WHISKERS:
This enhanced composite image detailing structure in the coma and dust tail of Hale-Bopp was recorded one day before the comet's passage from north to south across the plane of Earth's orbit. Whisker-like structures, probably part of the ion tail, are visible above extending from the lower left of the bright coma. Along with Southern Hemisphere observers, astronomers and a fleet of spacecraft of the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics program had been anxiously awaiting this north/south crossing. The comet's interaction with the changing equatorial solar wind and magnetic field during this crossing was expected to produce distortions and disconnections of Hale-Bopp's ion tail. (Image: T. Puckett)