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- When will Halley's Comet be visible?
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- First some bad news! The very best
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- viewing of Halley's Comet from planet
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- Earth will be from south of the
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- Equator (South America, South Africa,
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- Australia, etc.), due to the current
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- positioning of the Earth's axis rela-
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- tive to the comet. In the Southern
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- Hemisphere, the comet will be, on the
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- average, higher in the sky for longer
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- periods of time than in the Northern
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- Hemisphere.
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- But, don't despair! Comet Halley
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- WILL be in fairly good sky positions
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- in North America at certain times
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- during its visit. However, this leads
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- to...
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- MORE BAD NEWS!
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- When Halley makes its closest and
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- brightest approach to Earth in late
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- March - early April, it will be in
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- very poor position on the southern
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- horizon, making it barely viewable
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- from the southern states, and almost
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- completely unviewable from the Great
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- White North.
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- Timetable for Halley Watching
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- For North American observers, there
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- will be 4 primary observation
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- 'windows' during which Halley will be
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- viewable with the naked eye, assuming
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- the comet achieves anticipated levels
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- of brightness. The 4 periods span
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- from December of 1985 to April of
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- 1986.
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- Halley's Watch Period #1
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- December 1 - 15, 1985
- Inbound toward the Sun
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- This period marks the first time
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- Halley's Comet has been seen with the
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- naked eye since July, 1910. The comet
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- will appear as a faint, fuzzy speck in
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- the region of Pisces, just south of
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- the Great Square in Pegasus. It can
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- be found in the southwest sky about
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- half-way between the horizon and the
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- zenith (straight overhead), within an
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- hour after sunset.
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- If a tail has started to form, a
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- pair of binoculars or a small
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- telescope should be able to pick it
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- out.
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- Halley's Watch Period #2
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- January 1 - 25, 1986
- Still inbound, ready to turn the
- corner
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- The first 12 days of January will
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- find Halley in the west-southwestern
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- evening sky free from interference
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- from the Moon. From the 12th on, the
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- Moon will begin to increase in
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- brightness, thus making observing
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- more difficult.
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- At the first of the month, Halley
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- will be approximately 30 degrees above
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- the southwest horizon (90 degrees
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- being directly vertical), and should
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- then be showing a short tail. It
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- will be visible for about 2 hours
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- after sunset. However, with each
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- passing night, the comet will set 6
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- minutes earlier, thus allowing only
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- 30 minutes of decent viewing by the
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- 12th.
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- By the end of this period, Halley
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- will be located in the western sunset.
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- It will actually be only 2 weeks from
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- reaching 'perihelion' on February 9,
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- its close encounter with the Sun in
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- which it swings around and starts its
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- outbound leg.
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- Halley's Watch Period #3
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- March 8 - 21, 1986
- Outward bound, heading our way
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- Halley re-emerges from its swing
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- around the Sun and begins to appear
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- low in the southeastern morning skies
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- just before sunrise. However, the
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- comet will be only 5-10 degrees above
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- the horizon, sadly making it difficult
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- if not impossible to view. Neverthe-
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- less, it is likely that Halley will be
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- supercharged from its recent encounter
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- with the Sun and will be sporting a
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- bright tail. Viewers in the mid- and
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- southern U.S. may get a fair glimpse
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- of the comet or part of its tail low
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- on the horizon as it makes a gradual
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- sojourn towards the southern horizon
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- during the month.
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- By the end of this period, the Moon
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- will begin to dominate the sky, hin-
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- dering what little chance of viewing
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- is possible.
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- During this period, 6 different
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- space probes will be making close ap-
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- proaches to Halley's Comet, performing
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- a wide assortment of data collecting
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- and picture taking. We will discuss
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- the details of these probes in an up-
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- coming issue of LOADSTAR.
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- Halley's Watch Period #4
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- April 2 - 13, 1986
- Close Encounter of the
- Extraterrestrial Kind!
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- On April 11, Halley's Comet will
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- reach its closest point to the Earth
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- during this visit, being approximately
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- 37 million miles away. This is a far
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- cry from the stunning visit in 83
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- A.D. when Halley came within 3-4
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- million miles of Earth, exhibiting a
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- double tail that stretched from one
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- horizon to the other, shining
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- exceedingly bright!
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- During this period, Halley should
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- be readily visible on the southern
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- horizon from the southernmost
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- latitudes of the continental U.S.
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- The farther north you live, the less
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- your chance of seeing the comet at
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- all! The tail may be as long as 25
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- degrees and, therefore, may be seen
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- sticking up over the horizon in some
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- places.
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- The comet will be at its highest
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- point above the horizon (8-10 degrees)
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- starting at sunrise at the beginning
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- of the period, backing up 30 minutes
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- with each subsequent night. By the
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- 13th, Halley will be at its highest
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- point around midnight.
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- By the 13th, the Moon will begin to
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- brighten the night sky. However,
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- Halley should remain distinctly
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- visible in spite of the lunar
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- interference.
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- -----< continued in next article >----
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