The above picture was taken from the Wapiti Valley of Wyoming on Saturday night, March 22nd. Comet Hale-Bopp is that white streak at the upper right hand section of the picture. A regular camera was used, but it had to be mounted on a tripod because the exposure time was almost 1 minute long. The moon was full and provided enough light so that you can see the landscape, as well as the comet.
While you need a camera to capture a scene like this, the comet looks really neat even if you just use your own eyes. If you have a pair of binoculars, Hale-Bopp will look even better.
It's very rare that we have an opportunity to see a comet as bright as Hale-Bopp, so I urge you to take a look. It's easy to find the comet, even from your own backyard, if you have a clear view of the Northwest (just after sunset) or Northeast (just before dawn) part of the sky. Plus, you'll be able to brag to your grandchildren that you saw the GREAT COMET OF 1997! Hale-Bopp won't be back again for 2800 years, so we're indeed lucky to have a chance to see it.
PARENTS: Use this opportunity to do some hands-on astronomy with your children and spark their interest in science.
Comet Hale-Bopp is now EASY to see, even from Baltimore, as long as
the sky is clear.
You can see the comet either in the early morning or early evening
hours. In the morning, look to the NORTHEAST about an hour before
sunrise. In the evening, look to the NORTHWEST about an hour after
sunset.
Remember that the Sun rises in the EAST and sets in the WEST. Here are
some detailed instructions for picking up the comet after sunset.
1) Take note of where the Sun sets. That direction is WEST.
2) Set yourself in the direction of the sunset. Then turn to your right
by about 45 degrees. (On a clock face that corresponds to a rotation
of about one and a half hours.)
3) Look up from the horizon about 20 degrees. If you extend your arm
straight out ahead of you, the angle subtended by your clenched fist
is about 10 degrees. So you should look about two fists up from the
horizon.
4) If there are no clouds in that part of the sky, then you should now
be able to see the comet. You need to wait until about 7 pm, or a little
later, so that the sky gets sufficiently dark to pick up the comet.
The comet is the brightest astronomical object in the Northwest. Hale-Bopp
looks distinctly different from any stars or planets in the sky. The
comet has a TAIL that will look like a streak extending to your right.
5) For your best view of the comet, use a pair of binoculars. Hale-Bopp
really looks nice in binoculars.
After looking at the comet, there are a few other interesting things
in the night sky that you might want to check out.
The "red planet" MARS is that bright star-like object rising in the
EAST. The constellation, ORION, with 3 bright stars forming a "belt"
and a couple of other stars forming a "sword", is easily visible in
the SOUTHWEST. A cluster of stars, called the Pleides, can be
found in the WEST, a bit higher off the horizon compared to the comet.
If you look at the Pleides with binoculars, you'll be able to see
the "seven sisters", which are the seven brightest stars in the
cluster.
The folks at Sky and Telescope magazine have produced a couple of very
nice, and more sophisticated, Hale-Bopp finder charts. One is for
late March ,
one is for early April ,
and one is for late April .
If you go out to look for the comet, make sure that you:
If you haven't seen the comet yet, you still have a chance! I expect
the comet to remain visible shortly after sunset in the northwest sky
for at least the next few weeks. Don't give up if the weather happens
to be bad the first couple of times you try. You'll eventually
"catch" the comet.
The comet makes it closest approach to the Sun on April 1st and then
starts its long journey back out to deep space, not to be seen again
for about 2800 years! Now don't you feel lucky to have seen it?
The comet was discovered in July 1995 by Alan Hale in Cloudcroft, New
Mexico, and by Thomas Bopp near Tucson, Arizona. Both are avid
"stargazers" who enjoy going out to look at the sky, particularly near
the times of "new moon", which is when the sky is darkest and you can
see things best. Right now we're having a "full moon". If you go
outside at night, you'll notice that the moon is so bright that it
lights up much of the sky and makes it tougher to see comet Hale-Bopp.
But the moon is rising later and later, which means that you should
have an improving view of Hale-Bopp just after sunset as we move
towards the first week of April.
So what is a comet? A COMET is a giant, dirty snowball! It has a
NUCLEUS, a COMA, and two kinds of TAILS. If you want to learn more
about comets, check out our
comet facts page .
You might want to check out
Sky and Telescope Magazine's
online comet page for observing tips, nice finder charts (which I've
already included above), and up-to-date information on
Comet Hale-Bopp observations made by amateur astronomers
from around the world.
The
JPL Hale-Bopp homepage
is maintained by Ron Baalke of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
and is probably the most comprehensive Hale-Bopp WWW site in the world.
From this site you can find some of the latest images of the comet,
finder charts, and links to just about every other important Hale-Bopp
WWW site. I highly recommend checking it out.
Last summer I put together a
WWW page for NOVA that has a lot of general information on comets
that was written for the public. It also has some specific information
on comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp.
For a view of the comet from the Kenai Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, click here . This picture was taken by Bill Hutchinson and shows the comet very close to our Milky Way galaxy.
The Swedish amateur astronomer, Bengt Ask, took this nice picture of Hale-Bopp that shows two tails .
This WWW page is designed to provide information on Comet Hale-Bopp to the students, parents, and teachers of Fort Garrison Elementary School .
Comments on this WWW page can be sent to Hal Weaver via e-mail at weaver@pha.jhu.edu . Hal is a professional Planetary Astronomer and the father of Alex Weaver, who is a second grader in Mrs. Blum's class at Fort Garrison.
