One for the diary :)

[Paul M]

Just pottering around Stellarium and suddenly had a thought:

Circumstances are much better than the '85/'86 sorry excuse for an apparition but it ain't going to be seen in a dark sky!

Not that I'm making any plans for my 97th year

[Pete Presland]

8 hours ago, Paul M said:

Circumstances are much better than the '85/'86 sorry excuse for an apparition but it ain't going to be seen in a dark sky!

Not that I'm making any plans for my 97th year

How rude, the 85/86 sorry excuse is one of my all time favorite astronomy memories 🙂 It gets better with each passing year of my life as well. My Tasco telescope, Halleys comet ring bound atlas, less light pollution, those were the days 😂   That's nostalgia for you!

I will be 94 for this visit and the date you have selected is my birthday as well 🙂 

 

[Paul M]

2 hours ago, Pete Presland said:

How rude, the 85/86 sorry excuse is one of my all time favorite astronomy memories 🙂 It gets better with each passing year of my life as well. My Tasco telescope, Halleys comet ring bound atlas, less light pollution, those were the days 😂   That's nostalgia for you!

I will be 94 for this visit and the date you have selected is my birthday as well 🙂 

 

I only got a few glimpses of the last apparition, which was indeed the worst perihelion circumstance of just about any recorded return. So it's a fact, it was pants! 😇

I must have had my 6in Fullerscope by then but I only remember looking at Halley's with my 60mm Tascoesque scope. Not sure why. 

I guess my main downer on that return is that even though it was well publicised to be a difficult object for the northern hemisphere, I'd been excited about it since learning to read. Unfortunately it performed at lower end of that expectation.

The next but one or two returns, can't remember which, is going to be a very close pass of Earth. Estimated mag of -2 . I might hang round for a couple more centuries, me and Halley have unfinished business!

[Neil H]

Well I was lucky Eton college near Windsor let the public in to there observatory they have a huge telescope I lined up for about 2 hours to Get in but was so worth it , I will be 100 when it comes round again I may not live that long , but I can still remember what I saw through the eyepiece and will never forget it 

[Pete Presland]

3 hours ago, Paul M said:

I only got a few glimpses of the last apparition, which was indeed the worst perihelion circumstance of just about any recorded return. So it's a fact, it was pants! 😇

I must have had my 6in Fullerscope by then but I only remember looking at Halley's with my 60mm Tascoesque scope. Not sure why. 

I guess my main downer on that return is that even though it was well publicised to be a difficult object for the northern hemisphere, I'd been excited about it since learning to read. Unfortunately it performed at lower end of that expectation.

The next but one or two returns, can't remember which, is going to be a very close pass of Earth. Estimated mag of -2 . I might hang round for a couple more centuries, me and Halley have unfinished business!

It was pretty poor, I remember seeing nothing more than a smudge through my 4.5" reflector.

It was the glimpse of such an historical object that does it for me, depicted through history.

Love this little cartoon I have on my toolbox at work.

 

[Swoop1]

If I make it, i will be just shy of my 99th birthday for this one. Hope I can still stand at an eyepiece for it!

[Wiu-Wiu]

19 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

It was pretty poor, I remember seeing nothing more than a smudge through my 4.5" reflector.

It was the glimpse of such an historical object that does it for me, depicted through history.

Love this little cartoon I have on my toolbox at work.

 

I have this on the main page of my current website... I was already interested and have lively recollection of the Giotto passage through it's tail (back then, it was live on TV, in for what was the middle of the night for me, I asked my mom to wake me up so we could watch it..) 

I'll be 84 next time around, hopefully I get to watch it live, through a telescope, then. 

[maw lod qan]

Sure would like to make it, but 106 is going to be a stretch!

My maternal grandmother was one of those with whom the timing was right.

She lived through 2 appearances.

Born in 1888, passed away in 1996.

[Paul M]

1 hour ago, Pete Presland said:

It was pretty poor, I remember seeing nothing more than a smudge through my 4.5" reflector.

It was the glimpse of such an historical object that does it for me, depicted through history.

Love this little cartoon I have on my toolbox at work.

 

I don't think I've seen that cartoon before but I like it. Quite deep and stirring, particularly the last frame. I'd redraw that with a small child once again talking to the comet; "Hello Halley's Comet, Grandad said you'd be back "  

[JamesF]

1 minute ago, Paul M said:

I don't think I've seen that cartoon before but I like it. Quite deep and stirring, particularly the last frame. I'd redraw that with a small child once again talking to the comet; "Hello Halley's Comet, Grandad said you'd be back "  

A similar thought occurred to me

Not quite as bad as transits of Venus, mind.  Only about ninety-seven and a half years to go to the next one...

James

[Pete Presland]

2 hours ago, Paul M said:

I don't think I've seen that cartoon before but I like it. Quite deep and stirring, particularly the last frame. I'd redraw that with a small child once again talking to the comet; "Hello Halley's Comet, Grandad said you'd be back "  

As a fairly "new" Grandad, that has really struck a chord 😥 🤭 😍

[Paul M]

10 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

As a fairly "new" Grandad

Me too!

Our first is only 10 days old and we've not met him yet.

[Pete Presland]

2 hours ago, Paul M said:

Me too!

Our first is only 10 days old and we've not met him yet.

oh no, what a shame. Hopefully it will not too much longer.

We havw not seen our three for nearly 6 weeks either, thankfully we have video chats, not the same though. Can not wait to give all three a masive hug! 😍

[maw lod qan]

On 30/04/2020 at 12:36, Paul M said:

Me too!

Our first is only 10 days old and we've not met him yet.

Just keep mind when this "mess" is behind us all, you'll have many years to make up for it.

My grandkid days are done according to my daughters. The oldest grand is 18, so I guess my next will be great grand!

God, that makes me feel so old!