COMET VIEWERS GET SCOPES UP.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Stargazers and comet watchers can get a closer look at Hale-Bopp on Saturday when an amateur astronomy club celebrates National Astronomy Day by offering free telescopic views at Valencia Valley Park. Eighteen- and 20-inch telescopes will be set up at dusk in the northwest corner of the park, next to Valencia Valley Elementary School, 23601 Carrizo Drive.

Comet Hale-Bopp made its closest approach to Earth on March 22, when it came within 122 million miles, said Jim Mahon, president of The Local Group. Hale-Bopp came within 85 million miles of the sun April 1. On Saturday, Mahon said, the comet will pass about 135 million miles from Earth.

``It remains brighter than most of the stars in the sky. It's an obvious naked-eye object in the west-northwest sky, approximately one hour after sunset,'' said Mahon, whose group is named for the collective designation given the Earth's galaxy, the Milky Way, and neighboring galaxies like Andromeda.

Astronomy buffs should look for the comet about 25 degrees above the horizon, preferably in an area with few city lights. Nonetheless, Mahon said people will enjoy the celestial spectacle even if they don't retreat to wilderness areas with inky-black skies.

Astronomers describe Hale-Bopp as a ``dirty snowball,'' a ball of ice and dust 25 miles wide - perhaps the brightest comet in a century.

Amateur astronomers Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp discovered the comet on the same night in July 1995, when it was beyond the orbit of Jupiter. Comets this bright rarely pass by Earth, experts say.

Hale-Bopp will be visible until about the beginning of May, but the optimum viewing period began the last two weeks of March and will continue through mid-April.

Since Hale-Bopp was discovered, it has sparked a host of fears and conspiracy theories - most recently that a UFO was hurtling through space behind the comet. Last month, 39 Heaven's Gate cultists committed suicide in Rancho Santa Fe in the belief that they would hitch a ride on that spaceship.

Mahon said he hasn't noticed any increased interest in Hale-Bopp due to its newfound notoriety from the Heaven's Gate connection.

``We've run some comet programs since (the mass suicide), one of them at Placerita Canyon Nature Center,'' Mahon said, referring to a stargazing event that drew about 75 people Saturday night. ``The people who were there wanted to look at a comet, and I didn't get one question about a UFO.''

Mahon has gone to Castaic Lake and Mount Pinos to get a better view of Hale-Bopp, but he said that those who come to the park Saturday night should have no trouble spotting the comet and its two tails - one a bluish tone and the other a yellowish tint.

``It's one of the brightest comets in history,'' he said.

To learn more about Hale-Bopp, Mahon suggested that computer users take a look at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Web site devoted to the comet. The address is http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov.comet.

For information on The Local Group astronomy club or Saturday's event, call Mahon at [phone] or LaVerne Booth at [phone].

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Photo: Amateur astronomers are inviting stargazers to gather Saturday in Valencia to view comet Hale-Bopp as it hurtles through the night sky.

David R. Crane/Daily News