www.oocities.org/motorcity/1760/halebopp.html

Comet Hale-Bopp Arrives!

Compiled by amateur stargazer Bill Underwood



Hale-Bopp Feb. 13, 1997. 5-minute exposure by Dennis di Cicco; 8-inch f/1.5 Celestron Schmidt camera; Fujicolor Super G800 film. The field measures about 4.5 deg wide. Taken from a dark-sky, oceanfront location south of Boston.





Hale-Bopp March 3, 1130UTC. Photo by Dale Ireland (direland@drdale.com) Silverdale, WA 47.7N 122.7W. 500mm F/4 Nikkor lens, Kodak PJM ASA 640, 1 Minute.




IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM, untold numbers of rock and ice roam, subjected to the combined gravitational influences of nearby stars, our Sun and the planets. Ranging in size from microscopic bits to mountainous chunks, most of them stay out there. But one of these chunks is headed toward the inner solar system. It was discovered on July 23, 1995 UT (Universal Time) by Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona.

The comet will be brightest from late March through mid-April. As comets go, Hale-Bopp's a whopper. The nucleus is huge -- it's estimated to be about 25 miles wide. By comparison, Halley's Comet, which was observed by U.S. and Japanese spacecraft, looked like an irregular potato some 8 x 8 x 16 km (5 x 5 x 10 miles). With an absolute magnitude of -1.0, Hale-Bopp is intrinsically the brightest visitor to pass inside the Earth's orbit since Tycho Brahe recorded the great comet of 1577.

However, Hale-Bopp will pass far from the Earth. It'll get no closer to us than 1.315 astronomical units (196 million kilometers or 122 million miles) on March 22nd, coincidentally close to the Spring Equinox. Comet Hale-Bopp could be the brightest comet seen in over 100 years. Orbital calculations (as of late 1996) indicate that Hale-Bopp last passed through the inner solar system about 4210 years ago (or around 2214 BC), and that it will return again about 2380 years from now. If you live in the northern hemisphere, this might be the comet of your lifetime.


CURRENTLY, HALE-BOPP IS QUITE VISIBLE in the northeast just before dawn. Right now (March 10) it is also becoming visible in the evening twilight, low in the northwest. So far, I've seen it in the SF Bay area both morning and evening, and I would rate the morning viewings as better.

Around March 20th, the best viewing moves from morning to evening. The ever-brightening comet will be climbing higher in the northwest after dusk. Unfortunately, the Moon also grows brighter in the evening during the middle of March, which will hinder viewing. The Full Moon is on March 23; on that night there will be a partial lunar eclipse (midpoint 8:40 PM PST). On March 25, Hale-Bopp is 5 degrees north of the Andromeda Galaxy.



At the end of astronomical twilight on April 10, 1997, just how high the comet gets in your sky depends on your latitude:

Latitude

Elevation, 4/10/97

54-58 degrees

21 degrees

50 degrees

22 degrees

40-45 degrees

21 degrees

35 degrees

20 degrees

30 degrees

19 degrees

20 degrees

16 degrees


Need a map? Print the Hale-Bopp Locator Page (do this while still online, so you get the images!) and head out for a dark location. If you've got 'em, bring your binoculars. Binoculars on a tripod or other mount are ideal for comet observation. Also, with a 35mm camera on a tripod or other sturdy support, exposures of just a minute or less on 400 ASA film will record the comet.


Links to other Hale-Bopp Pages:

Ron Baalke's Hale-Bopp Page at JPL
The Truth Behind Comet Hale-Bopp
The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegram's Hale-Bopp Page
Gary Kronk's Comets and Meteors Page
The International Comet Quarterly
Goddard Space Flight Center's Hale-Bopp Page
Comet Hale-Bopp for the Non-astronomer
The Astronomer: Comets and Asteroids
Hubble Space Telescope News and Views
Sky's Online Comet Page


Back to:

Bill's Porsche 944 Page

Apple Jack's Inn