Hale Bopp

[Condor Gold]

Anyone remeber this comet.Anyone see it up close with their telescope.

I remeber it the summer of 1997 - massive glow in the Sky. I heard it said that comets are signs of a impending death. Soon after the comet - Princess Diana died. Apparantly whenever a comet has appeared throughout the ages it was a sing someone important was about to die - like a King or Queen or Leader, etc, etc.

Interesting stuff.

[kev]

Ah yes, I remember it well...

Had a great time time both with Hale-Bopp and before that Hyutake.

Ran a public star party for it at the back of letchworth, normally we used to get c 100 or so folk for the yearly public event, that year we got roughly 2500! We had traffic jams, used various farm fields, etc. Luckily because it was a relatively dark sky there lots of members brought scopes along, so we coped. Shame the local roads got gridlocked (!)

Also went on holiday to CDEPA with some mates, as we did when Hyutake was on (we had booked before the comets were visible). Had a great time viewing.

The only bummer was that I ran out of film (and due to a fault with my ME Super didnt realise it).

Kev

[Rusty Strings]

The image on my avatar is Hale Bopp, it was taken with an SLR camera sat on the roof of my mates car, a truely magnificient sight.

t seems that only the spectacularly visable comets are tied in with a tragedy, I don't recall comet Holmes being responsible for a disaster. I'm sure enough "important" people die often enough around the world for an occassional astronomical event to be held repsonsible.

John

[beamish]

I remember Hale-Bopp as the first big astronomical phenomena that I observed over months. No scope ,no bins, just Mk1 eye balls from the large dormer window in my first house. Great views, loved the two tails !

[ncjunk]

I remember seeing that and it was, and still is, the best comet I have ever seen (Haley´s comet was a waste of time for me just a lot of meada interest with nothing to show for it).

The two tails were fantastic and long in the night sky.

Comet holmes was good but I had a telescope this time around and I prefer the two tails of Hale-Bopp to Holmes.

NC

[cosmic dave]

Yeah it was a great comet probably the best we shall see an our life time although another brighter comet could pop up at any time the chances are that was the best we will see. I was impressed that even living in the middle of a city centre the comet was clearly visible

Ahh happy days !!!

[Breakintheclouds]

I was at university in York when it came over. I remember sitting (probably illegally!) on the ramparts leading up to Clifford's Tower with a friend one night and seeing it clearly over the city. Amazing. Now I just wish I'd had a telescope back then.

[George Jones]

Saw Hale-Bopp (1997) and Hyakutake (1996) with my 10x50s; saw McNaught (2007) with my 15x70s on a tripod. All very nice.

[barkis]

I doubt we'll see the like again of Bopp or Hyakutaki, but we can hope.

Couple of reminders. These were taken by a young lady from Cockermouth Astronomical Society, and taken from a book Hale Bopp over Cumbria.

Ron.

[Vega]

I remember it well, could see it clearly from the centre of town. It was bright enough for EVERYONE to see and cause quite alot of media coverage. Thats the comets we like to see hehe. I never owned a scope at the time tho.. doh! Here's to the next one thats bright enough to casue a real media frenzie!

Its quite easy to associate a comet to a tragic death. If there was a naked eye comet this year it would have been associated with Michael Jackson, Patrick Swaze or Stephen Gately. Its quite easy really. I dont want to sound morbid but a big celebrity dies almost every year.

Matt

[chaotician]

wow, that brought back memories, I remember me and my Mum taking my little sister (then 6 or 7) out on to the hills near where we live to look for it, the sky was absolutely clear and we were freezing, but we just stood there looking at it through the family binos, leaning on the car for what seemed like hours, absolutely entranced. It's the only time I can remember my little sis being quiet whilst her eyes are open.

Magical Memories,

Matte H

[Rob]

One of my all time fave items.. just ace

[callisto]

Yes i remember this well.

I was night fishing on the river Tyne, must of missed loads of bites cos most of the time i was looking at the comet with my binos.

[laser_jock99]

Hale-Bopp was a fantastic comet. Large, bright and 'easy' to photograph. Here's a photo I took with 10min exposure, 200mm lens and hypered Ektachrome 400 film (oh the good old days of real film!).

Hyakutake was good too- but Hale-Bopp should be classed as one of the 'Greats'.

Hyakutake

[Condor Gold]

Does anyone remeber the lunatics who all commited sucide because they believed that Hale Bopp was a sign and that by commiting sucide they would all transcend to hale bopp and be carried away on the tail of hale bopp

100 % serious - it really happened a mass sucide based on this barmy belief.

[crepitis]

I remember the weather in my neck of the woods was pretty poor and I hadnt managed to see Hale Bopp, then one night I was nightshift and we got a shout in the early hours of the morning and as we were en-route I suddenly just saw it , it just took my breath away , hanging in the clear sky , makes me go all Goose-bumpy thinking about it

[DarkerSky]

Spectacular images and brings back memories too. Hale-Bopp is indeed one of the great comets, if not the greatest, of my lifetime so far. I saw it for the first time in Portugal one February morning. When it was in the evening sky later in the spring I got these images on my Canon A1 film camera at the time...