![]() HALE BOPP COMET PROFESSIONALThis caused some amateur and professional astronomers to worry that the comet had begun to fizzle. As July progressed, the comet failed to become brighter. The comet continued to slowly brighten throughout June and had reached a magnitude of 5.5 by the beginning of July.Magnitude estimates were then typically near 6.5, while the coma diameter was still in the 10-15 arcmin range. By the end of May a few more observers were reporting the comet visible to the naked eye. With 10x50 binoculars he determined the magnitude as 6.7 and said the coma was 15 arc minutes across. The comet finally became a naked-eye object on May 20, when Lovejoy caught several glimpses of it in very clear skies.Nevertheless, the comet appears to have brightened to magnitude 8.5 around mid-March and was near 8.0 near the end of April. Terry Lovejoy (Australia) described the comet as "well condensed with a noticeably fan shaped coma and is significantly brighter than last year." The comet took backstage to comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) during March and April and few observations were obtained. After passing about 2° from the sun during the first days of 1996 January, the comet was spotted during the early days of February at about magnitude 9.The comet had brightened to magnitude 10 when it was lost in twilight at the end of November. At the comet's distance of 6.2 AU from Earth, this indicated a coma size of 2.5x1.6 million kilometers. Another indication that this comet was larger than normal came on August 18 when the one-m Schmidt at LaSilla revealed a coma measuring 9.2圆.0 arcmin. There was a trace of a tail, or a slight elongation of the coma, towards the north. At the beginning of August, various observers were indicating the comet was magnitude 10.5, about 2-3 arcmin across, and weakly condensed.The orbit indicated the comet was then 13.0 AU from the sun! The comet's total magnitude was then 18 and the coma was 0.4 arc minute across. McNaught (Anglo-Australian Observatory, Australia) found a prediscovery image on a plate exposed over two years earlier, on 1993 April 27. Dickinson (Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA) found the comet on an image exposed on 1995 May 29. Prediscovery images were later discovered. The discovery was incredible considering the comet was then 7.1 AU from the sun. Both Hale and Bopp had been observing M70 when they noticed the diffuse glow just a short distance away. ![]() It was described as diffuse, with some condensation, and about magnitude 10.5. The comet was found in Sagittarius, not far from the globular cluster M70. (The image was reduced by the webmaster to save space.)Īfter several months of no comet discoveries, which marked one of the longest dry spells in recent years, Alan Hale (Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA) and Thomas Bopp (near Stanfield, Arizona, USA) independently discovered a new comet on 1995 July 23. He was using a 190/255/435mm Schmidt camera and Kodak Gold 400. This image of comet Hale-Bopp was obtained by Rhemann on 1997 March 27.78. K R O N K ' S C O M E T O G R A P H YĬopyright © 1997 by Gerald Rhemann (Austria) It also discusses other famous comets, including Comet Halley, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Comet Hyakutake, and their significance.C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) G A R Y W. Hockey tells the story of the comet's discovery, astronomer's reaction to it, and their preparation for its arrival. The book provides the reader with charts and tables to locate and observe the comet. Biographical details and first-person quotes from Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, among others, humanize the science behind the comet and capture the "feel" of what could well-be the astronomical event of the decade. It is written in a lucid style for a non-technical readership. Hockey's book fills the long-standing demand for a guidebook that helps everyone gripped by "comet-fever" appreciate this spectacular event. It arrives on the heels of other recent comets in the "year of the comet". ![]() ![]() ![]() The comet will be one of the most-studied and perhaps brightest. A fascinating introduction to the recently discovered Comet Hale-Bopp that will soon burst onto the celestial scene. ![]()
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