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I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 1:03 pm
by lpm
I really enjoyed Hale-Bopp and I'm now mildly disturbed it was 23 years ago. A good comet would be a suitable event for 2020, given how they bring pestilence and disaster.
That Atlas comet was promising but then went to pieces quicker than Boris Johnson under Starmer's questioning. We now have Comet SWAN - or, as I like to call it, Comet Swan. But it's in the north east at dawn or something, so the sky's not dark enough when it's visible. For the northern hemisphere anyway, it's currently better in other hemispheres.
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 1:11 pm
by Bird on a Fire
I was 6 years old for Hale-Bop. I'd like to see one as an adult, and the next Halley slot isn't 2061 which might be pushing my luck.
Guess we're gonna have to go to space, lpm. Can you sort out a rocket? I'll get the freeze-dried food and weapons.
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 1:16 pm
by Gfamily
I saw comet McNaught in December 2006 from the office window in the early twilight sky on the one half-clear evening we seemed to have that month.
Fortunately, the person I pointed out to appreciated that seeing a comet effectively in daylight was a very rare event.
Sadly, the comet was best in the southern hemisphere, but I was pleased to have seen it.
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 3:30 pm
by jaap
I remember seeing Halley in 1986*. My early teenage self found it visually a somewhat underwhelming event, though it was quite interesting from a scientific or rational point of view. To be honest, watching the train of Starlink satellites go overhead a couple of weeks ago made a larger impression.
* I had to look that up.
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 3:48 pm
by Fishnut
I had this book as a young kid in the 80s. I don't remember seeing Halley's comet, though I do remember Hale-Bopp.
- Halleys.comet-1.jpg (65.73 KiB) Viewed 2284 times
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 4:21 pm
by Brightonian
I remember
Comet Kohoutek in 1973. Or rather, I remember the huge publicity about it, and am not sure if I actually saw it (I did see a smudge in the sky) because it didn't really perform.
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 4:44 pm
by dyqik
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 8:04 pm
by Grumble
lpm wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 1:03 pm
I really enjoyed Hale-Bopp and I'm now mildly disturbed it was 23 years ago. A good comet would be a suitable event for 2020, given how they bring pestilence and disaster.
That Atlas comet was promising but then went to pieces quicker than Boris Johnson under Starmer's questioning. We now have Comet SWAN - or, as I like to call it, Comet Swan. But it's in the north east at dawn or something, so the sky's not dark enough when it's visible. For the northern hemisphere anyway, it's currently better in other hemispheres.
How many other hemispheres are there?
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 8:11 pm
by Bird on a Fire
Grumble wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 8:04 pm
lpm wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 1:03 pm
I really enjoyed Hale-Bopp and I'm now mildly disturbed it was 23 years ago. A good comet would be a suitable event for 2020, given how they bring pestilence and disaster.
That Atlas comet was promising but then went to pieces quicker than Boris Johnson under Starmer's questioning. We now have Comet SWAN - or, as I like to call it, Comet Swan. But it's in the north east at dawn or something, so the sky's not dark enough when it's visible. For the northern hemisphere anyway, it's currently better in other hemispheres.
How many other hemispheres are there?
An infinite number, surely? Only the northernmost is specifically excluded, leaving infinity-minus-one hemispheres.
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 8:47 pm
by tenchboy
Bird on a Fire wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 8:11 pm
Grumble wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 8:04 pm
lpm wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 1:03 pm
I really enjoyed Hale-Bopp and I'm now mildly disturbed it was 23 years ago. A good comet would be a suitable event for 2020, given how they bring pestilence and disaster.
That Atlas comet was promising but then went to pieces quicker than Boris Johnson under Starmer's questioning. We now have Comet SWAN - or, as I like to call it, Comet Swan. But it's in the north east at dawn or something, so the sky's not dark enough when it's visible. For the northern hemisphere anyway, it's currently better in other hemispheres.
How many other hemispheres are there?
An infinite number, surely? Only the northernmost is specifically excluded, leaving infinity
-minus-one hemispheres.
Quick Fix for you.
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Thu May 14, 2020 8:57 pm
by Martin Y
jaap wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 3:30 pm
I remember seeing Halley in 1986*. My early teenage self found it visually a somewhat underwhelming event, though it was quite interesting from a scientific or rational point of view. To be honest, watching the train of Starlink satellites go overhead a couple of weeks ago made a larger impression.
* I had to look that up.
My mate Pete and I were quite pleased with ourselves because we managed to locate Halley's comet with rather crappy binoculars for several nights before any of the news media got interested enough to publish photos of it. I can't now remember how we learned where to look for it. How did we do stuff before there was an internet?
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 11:44 am
by Turdly
Martin Y wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 8:57 pm
jaap wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 3:30 pm
I remember seeing Halley in 1986*. My early teenage self found it visually a somewhat underwhelming event, though it was quite interesting from a scientific or rational point of view. To be honest, watching the train of Starlink satellites go overhead a couple of weeks ago made a larger impression.
* I had to look that up.
My mate Pete and I were quite pleased with ourselves because we managed to locate Halley's comet with rather crappy binoculars for several nights before any of the news media got interested enough to publish photos of it. I can't now remember how we learned where to look for it. How did we do stuff before there was an internet?
We sent off a stamped and self-addressed envelope, possibly with a cheque, and waited at least 28 days for delivery.
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 12:00 pm
by geejaytee
For Halley, there was a BBC Micro program (which might have been sold/given to schools or astronomy clubs - I'm not sure how I managed to get hold of it, aside from it being on a cassette copy of a copy of a copy), so it might have been that.
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 12:25 pm
by El Pollo Diablo
Re: I want to see another comet
Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 12:30 pm
by Martin Y
It's sort-of coming back to me that someone, maybe New Scientist, had a chart showing where Halley's comet was expected to be on certain dates and we extrapolated that track back. That's probably why we were so pleased with ourselves - because we spotted it several days before the first date they showed. I do remember drawing a chart of a region of stars in the back of my maths book, and plotting where the smudge was each night.