Copmet Hale-Bopp

[Angus Wright]

Somewhere, the astronomical society I am a member of has a video of the nucleus of Hale-Bopp that we made. It was a converted security video camera and we had tried it on the Orion nebula. The Trapezium was clear and present but not a hint of nebulosity. So we were amazed when we could clearly see the spiral rings of material spinning away from the nucleus. I wonder if someone has transferred that video onto a computer...

Driving to the Observatory and seeing a comet with a 3 degree tail a handspan from the sodium steetlight was amazing. Then when the comet was in the darkest quarter if our sky we managed to eyeball 45 degrees of tail. At the same there were reports from Arizona of 50 degree tail sightings, so I think we did pretty well. ISON and PANSTARRS have a lot to live up to.

[steveb1977]

Hale-Bopp was one of the first things you could see as the sun set. I observed it through a 6” Reflector and remember seeing those spirals through it. Could be seen easily with the naked eye for ages. Outside of a total solar eclipse it’s probably the best thing I’ve seen in the sky.