from starlord:
I lived in Hawaii at the time of those two comets, and while HB was 'ok',
even at it's best it never put on the show that Hyakutake did. At it's best
( and I have photos of it ) HB was bright but small

from david:
Humm.. I wouldn't call a 30 degree tail exactly "small".
The coma was at
least a degree in width and the tail was so bright that at least 10 degrees
of it was visible with the full moon in the sky.

from jbortle:
...published observations of H-B indicate the
coma's diameter when the comet was at the peak of its display was about a
quarter degree (15') or somewhat less.
Likewise, there are very few reports of tail lengths approaching 30 degrees
(for the dust tail) for H-B. The average observer reported figures like 10-20
degrees for the main tail under good skies.

For the record, during their peaks and under the same 6.5mag. skies,
I observed HB's tail at 11-15deg., and Hyakutake's at 70-75deg.
HB's coma: 10-12'. Hyakutake's coma: at least 2.2 *degrees* ( ! )
My peak magnitudes estimates were -0.5 for HB,
and -0.8 for Hyakutake. (I must admit, though, that comparing the
condensed mags of the two was an 'apples vs.bananas' thing.)
And while HB's appearance was longer by the calendar, it's nightly perihelic
viewing window was relatively short and/or washed-out by moonlight.
I'm still glad I got to see 'em both
By the way, while I was very young during Comet West, the pictures are
spectacular. Especially the bright, fanning, aurora-like tail:
http://home.earthlink.net/~tonyhoffman/cometwest.htm
Wish I'd witnessed it Live...

SSX