COMET EXPECTED TO BE CELESTIAL SPECTACLE.Byline: Charles Davis Charles Davis may refer to:
Sky watchers' fingers have been crossed for more than a year in hopes that a previously unknown comet might create a spectacular celestial display as it passes by Earth. Now some are cautiously agreeing with reports in popular media that tout Tout To promote a security in order to attract buyers. tout To foster interest in a particular company or security. For example, a broker might tout a security to a client in the hope that the client will purchase the security. Comet Hale-Bopp Comet Hale-Bopp (formally designated C/1995 O1) was probably the most widely observed comet of the twentieth century, and one of the brightest seen for many decades. as ``the comet of the century.'' ``There is a possibility it could live up to that billing,'' said amateur astronomer Robert Webb of Carmel. ``Some are predicting Hale-Bopp could be the brightest object in the sky since the Great Comet A Great Comet is a comet which becomes particularly bright and is very spectacular to a casual observer on Earth. Great comets appear, on average, once every decade. of 1811.'' Webb, a retired airline pilot, tracks comets and other deep space objects with an 18-inch telescope housed in an observatory in the Cachagua area of the Carmel Valley. Lately he has been rising early in the morning to train his scope on Hale-Bopp. The comet recently emerged from behind the sun and is streaking back to the outer reaches of the solar system solar system, the sun and the surrounding planets, natural satellites, dwarf planets, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets that are bound by its gravity. The sun is by far the most massive part of the solar system, containing almost 99.9% of the system's total mass. . It will arrive at its closest point to Earth - still some 90 million miles away from us - on March 22. ``It will be brightest the last two weeks of March and the first two weeks of April,'' Webb said. But, he added, Hale-Bopp is clearly visible now and will remain so for more than a month after its flyby fly·by also fly-by n. pl. fly·bys A flight passing close to a specified target or position, especially a maneuver in which a spacecraft or satellite passes sufficiently close to a body to make detailed observations without . Spotting the comet is relatively easy and will become even more so as it gets closer. Having changed from bright-patch-of-light to fuzz-ball-with-a-tail in the space of but a few months, Hale-Bopp is now a prominent feature of the morning sky. Webb advises comet seekers A comet seeker is a type of small telescope adapted especially to searching for comets: commonly of short focal length and large aperture, in order to secure the greatest brilliancy of light. References to start looking at about 5 a.m. ``Look to the northeast sky about 20 degrees over the horizon; it's in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan),'' he said. In the evening, the comet can again be spotted, this time low in the northwest sky after dusk. ``From April 1 on, it will be best at night, after dusk, as it passes below the Big and Little Dippers Little Dipper, familiar configuration of stars in the constellation Ursa Minor (see Ursa Major and Ursa Minor). ,'' Webb said. He emphasizes that dark conditions are needed for optimum viewing of the comet's tail. ``Even minimal interference from city lights or the moon can affect viewing,'' he said. The comet was discovered in 1995 by amateur astronomers Famous astronomers and astrophysicists include: Directory: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
Comets are traditionally seen as a bad omen. . Though they were separated by several hundred miles and didn't know each other at the time, Hale and Bopp reported their discovery on the same July evening. Webb explains that most comets are discovered by amateurs. ``They are the ones scanning the skies,'' he said. ``Professional astronomers usually have an agenda. They are concerned with a certain segment of the sky.'' Newcomers to comet-watching might wonder why Hale-Bopp is such a big deal. The short answer is that comets this bright rarely pass by Earth. It's a huge comet, Webb said, more than three times the size of most other comets. And sky watchers are ready for a thrill. The 20th has not been an outstanding century for comets. After the disappointments of Kahoutek in 1973 and Halley's in 1986, Hyukatake created a stir last year when it made a dramatic and unexpected ``close call'' 10 million miles from Earth. Hale-Bopp is 10 times the size of Hyukatake. Also, Webb said, it was discovered earlier, so there has been more time to study it. Latest predictions indicate Hale-Bopp's brightness might even exceed that of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Its ``tail'' - actually the pressure of sunlight ``blowing'' dust back from the comet's nucleus - will be hundreds of millions of miles long. Webb said the comet poses no danger to Earth. While comets have been known to collide col·lide intr.v. col·lid·ed, col·lid·ing, col·lides 1. To come together with violent, direct impact. 2. with planets - a tiny one is believed to have exploded in the atmosphere over Siberia in 1908, causing significant destruction in the region - Hale-Bopp will be no closer to Earth than is the sun. Never before recorded by man, Hale-Bopp will disappear for the next several thousand years before it makes its next pass through the solar system. ``At the end of April it will sink into the twilight of the evening,'' Webb said. ``There won't be much to look at after that.'' |
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