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Hale-Bopp: The Crowd Pleaser
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| Title |
Hale-Bopp: The Crowd Pleaser Comet |
| Explanation |
In 1997, the bright comet Hale-Bopp [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970320.html] may have become the most viewed comet in history [ http://medicine.wustl.edu/~kronkg/past_comets.html ] -- visible even to casual skywatchers in light polluted [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970830.html ] cities around [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970408.html ] the globe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970515.html ]. In this picture, taken by photographer Joe Orman [ http://members.home.com/rmscott/orman_index.html ] on the evening of May 8, 1997, Hale-Bopp easily competes with near twilight skies and a shining, over-exposed, crescent moon above Mobile, Arizona, USA. Where is Hale-Bopp now [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/ ]? Still visible [ http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/whats_visible.html ] to telescopic observers in the Southern Hemisphere, the comet is outbound [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970910.html ], presently about 537 million miles from the Sun. (Jupiter orbits at about 480 million miles.) The long lead time provided by the early discovery of Hale-Bopp [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950820.html ] has allowed extensive observing campaigns [ http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/hale-bopp/ report-rw-hbitp98.html ] producing a bonanza of information [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/comet/news102.html ] about this primordial chunk of our Solar System [ http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/comets/comets.html ]. |
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