Comet Hale-Bopp Update
COMET HALE-BOPP UPDATE
Sky & Telescope News Bulletin
May 9, 1997
TWILIGHT FOR HALE-BOPP
The range of magnitudes being reported for Comet Hale-Bopp still
varies anywhere from magnitude 0.0 to 1.0. This may be due in part to
inexperience among various comet-watchers and Hale-Bopp's nearness to
the horizon. You can still see it in the deepening twilight after
sunset; look low over the west-northwestern horizon. The dust tail is
still obvious, but the Moon reenters the scene this week, and its
light will become a greater hindrance by Thursday or Friday.
Observer Steve Larson (University of Arizona) believes a
"disconnection event" was seen in the ion tail of Comet Hale-Bopp on
May 6th. Amateur astronomers are encouraged to monitor the tail's
appearance during the next two weeks. Observers can the comet watch
home page at http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/halebopp/
MAY 11 -- SUNDAY
Say goodbye to Comet Hale-Bopp. It's getting very low in the sunset
(as seen from midnorthern latitudes) as it fades and shrinks. Use binoculars
to look low in the west-northwest right at the end of twilight. How many
more days can you follow it? For skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere,
on the other hand, the comet is finally coming into good view; again, look
low in the west-northwest at the end of twilight.
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