A 'Great Comet' is long overdue?

I was looking at a pic of De Cheasseaux's comet of 1700s and it struck
me the blooming thing's got not one or two... but SIX tails!

And then there was the daylight comet and the great comet of this year
and then that year... every few years. So I'm thinking we're due
another Great One soon?

Any thoughts? ;_)

R

In article .com,
robert wrote:
I was looking at a pic of De Cheasseaux's comet of 1700s and it struck
me the blooming thing's got not one or two... but SIX tails!

And then there was the daylight comet and the great comet of this year
and then that year... every few years. So I'm thinking we're due
another Great One soon?

Any thoughts? ;_)

We had two great comets quite recently: Hyakutake in 1996 and
Hale-Bopp in 1997 (actually discovered already in 1995).

Hyakutake was by itself not such a remarkable comet. But it did
pass very close to the Earth (about 0.1 au), and moved into high
northern declinations while it was closest. At best it showed a
50+ degree tail from a dark location. So Hyakutake offered us the
opportunity of seeing a "medieval comet" high in a dark sky.

Hale-Bopp remained visible for a very long time. Its tail length
and peak brightness weren't that remarkable, but ir remained near
its peak brightness of magnitude zero for a full two months - no
other recorded comet has remained that bright for so long. And
its tails were bright enough to be easily visible also in modern
light polluted skies.

Those two great comets were seen less than ten years ago. So
we've had our share....

.....however when the next great comet will appear depends little
on when the previous great comets appeared. So saying "we're due
another great comet soon" reflects our impatience, but says nothing
about when it actually will happen. It can appear next week, or we
might have to wait a few decades....

R



--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter, Grev Turegatan 40, SE-114 38 Stockholm, SWEDEN
e-mail: pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se
WWW: http://stjarnhimlen.se/

On a sunny day (5 Sep 2005 04:42:25 -0700) it happened "robert"
wrote in
.com:

I was looking at a pic of De Cheasseaux's comet of 1700s and it struck
me the blooming thing's got not one or two... but SIX tails!

And then there was the daylight comet and the great comet of this year
and then that year... every few years. So I'm thinking we're due
another Great One soon?

Any thoughts? ;_)
Yep, 10:25 tomorrow.
Only ONE though[t].
The new thing is actually 'strangelets'.
Smaller, but very effective.

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 13:14:32 GMT, (Paul Schlyter)
wrote:

In article .com,
robert wrote:
I was looking at a pic of De Cheasseaux's comet of 1700s and it struck
me the blooming thing's got not one or two... but SIX tails!

And then there was the daylight comet and the great comet of this year
and then that year... every few years. So I'm thinking we're due
another Great One soon?

Any thoughts? ;_)

We had two great comets quite recently: Hyakutake in 1996 and
Hale-Bopp in 1997 (actually discovered already in 1995).

Hyakutake was by itself not such a remarkable comet. But it did
pass very close to the Earth (about 0.1 au), and moved into high
northern declinations while it was closest. At best it showed a
50+ degree tail from a dark location. So Hyakutake offered us the
opportunity of seeing a "medieval comet" high in a dark sky.


Hyakutake was cool. I saw it and it was the first comet I ever saw
that looked like a real comet. I couldn't find Hale-Bopp at all so I
never saw it. If I did, it didn't look like a comet. Saw Haley's too
and it was just a dud. A fuzzy patch in the sky. But Hyakutake was the
shizznit. Wish I could walk outside every morning and see something
that beautiful hanging in the sky like a softball on fire.

In article ,
Ookie Wonderslug wrote:

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 13:14:32 GMT, (Paul Schlyter)
wrote:

In article .com,
robert wrote:
I was looking at a pic of De Cheasseaux's comet of 1700s and it struck
me the blooming thing's got not one or two... but SIX tails!

And then there was the daylight comet and the great comet of this year
and then that year... every few years. So I'm thinking we're due
another Great One soon?

Any thoughts? ;_)

We had two great comets quite recently: Hyakutake in 1996 and
Hale-Bopp in 1997 (actually discovered already in 1995).

Hyakutake was by itself not such a remarkable comet. But it did
pass very close to the Earth (about 0.1 au), and moved into high
northern declinations while it was closest. At best it showed a
50+ degree tail from a dark location. So Hyakutake offered us the
opportunity of seeing a "medieval comet" high in a dark sky.

Hyakutake was cool. I saw it and it was the first comet I ever saw
that looked like a real comet. I couldn't find Hale-Bopp at all so I
never saw it.

That's strange, since Hale-Bopp was actually the easiest to see of
those two comets. In addition, Hale-Bopp remained bright much longer
than Hyakutake. I know several non-skywatchers who enjoyed Hale-Bopp
but missed Hyakutake.

If I did, it didn't look like a comet. Saw Haley's too
and it was just a dud. A fuzzy patch in the sky. But Hyakutake was the
shizznit. Wish I could walk outside every morning and see something
that beautiful hanging in the sky like a softball on fire.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter, Grev Turegatan 40, SE-114 38 Stockholm, SWEDEN
e-mail: pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se
WWW: http://stjarnhimlen.se/

Comet Hyakutake was easily visible here in Tucson near its closest
approach. And, it was a very unusual green color. The only green
comet I ever saw. Saw Hale-Bopp here too. And, Halley with a
telescope.

Saul Levy


On Fri, 09 Sep 2005 07:14:08 GMT, (Paul Schlyter)
wrote:

We had two great comets quite recently: Hyakutake in 1996 and
Hale-Bopp in 1997 (actually discovered already in 1995).

Hyakutake was by itself not such a remarkable comet. But it did
pass very close to the Earth (about 0.1 au), and moved into high
northern declinations while it was closest. At best it showed a
50+ degree tail from a dark location. So Hyakutake offered us the
opportunity of seeing a "medieval comet" high in a dark sky.

Hyakutake was cool. I saw it and it was the first comet I ever saw
that looked like a real comet. I couldn't find Hale-Bopp at all so I
never saw it.

That's strange, since Hale-Bopp was actually the easiest to see of
those two comets. In addition, Hale-Bopp remained bright much longer
than Hyakutake. I know several non-skywatchers who enjoyed Hale-Bopp
but missed Hyakutake.

If I did, it didn't look like a comet. Saw Haley's too
and it was just a dud. A fuzzy patch in the sky. But Hyakutake was the
shizznit. Wish I could walk outside every morning and see something
that beautiful hanging in the sky like a softball on fire.

In message , Paul Schlyter
writes
In article ,
Ookie Wonderslug wrote:


Hyakutake was cool. I saw it and it was the first comet I ever saw
that looked like a real comet. I couldn't find Hale-Bopp at all so I
never saw it.

That's strange, since Hale-Bopp was actually the easiest to see of
those two comets. In addition, Hale-Bopp remained bright much longer
than Hyakutake. I know several non-skywatchers who enjoyed Hale-Bopp
but missed Hyakutake.

If I did, it didn't look like a comet. Saw Haley's too
and it was just a dud. A fuzzy patch in the sky. But Hyakutake was the
shizznit. Wish I could walk outside every morning and see something
that beautiful hanging in the sky like a softball on fire.


Sadly, I never saw Hyakutake in a really dark sky, but I must agree with
Paul in saying that Hale-Bopp was _obvious_, with its beautiful curved
tail. I remember my mother telling me that the postman told her he'd
seen it. It wasn't just seen by lots of people - they wanted to tell
other people about it :-)
I gather that Comet West (1976 ?) was another great comet but IIRC, I
was in hospital when it was brightest and never saw it at all.
Halley was exciting in a way. I first saw it in a small telescope from
suburban London, and it was just a little faint fuzz, but I was
thrilled. Unfortunately I couldn't express myself adequately at 2 a.m.
as I'd have woken the neighbours!
--
Remove spam and invalid from address to reply.

In article ,
Jonathan Silverlight wrote:

In message , Paul Schlyter
writes
In article ,
Ookie Wonderslug wrote:


Hyakutake was cool. I saw it and it was the first comet I ever saw
that looked like a real comet. I couldn't find Hale-Bopp at all so I
never saw it.

That's strange, since Hale-Bopp was actually the easiest to see of
those two comets. In addition, Hale-Bopp remained bright much longer
than Hyakutake. I know several non-skywatchers who enjoyed Hale-Bopp
but missed Hyakutake.

If I did, it didn't look like a comet. Saw Haley's too
and it was just a dud. A fuzzy patch in the sky. But Hyakutake was the
shizznit. Wish I could walk outside every morning and see something
that beautiful hanging in the sky like a softball on fire.

Sadly, I never saw Hyakutake in a really dark sky, but I must agree with
Paul in saying that Hale-Bopp was _obvious_, with its beautiful curved
tail. I remember my mother telling me that the postman told her he'd
seen it. It wasn't just seen by lots of people - they wanted to tell
other people about it :-)
I gather that Comet West (1976 ?) was another great comet but IIRC, I
was in hospital when it was brightest and never saw it at all.
Halley was exciting in a way. I first saw it in a small telescope from
suburban London, and it was just a little faint fuzz, but I was
thrilled. Unfortunately I couldn't express myself adequately at 2 a.m.
as I'd have woken the neighbours!

Comet West in 1976 was another beautifully bright comet, and at peak
brightness West was clearly brighter than either Hyakutake or
Hale-Bopp. However, West remained bright only for a very short time
and faded rapidly after that, and in addition West could only be seen
in the predawn sky near peak brightness. Most people aren't out
accidentially watching the sky at predawn hours (and most of those
who are are pretty drunk :-).

Halley in 1986 was a disappointment to anyone expecting Halley to be
as bright as in, say, 1910. However, the unfavourable geometric
circumstances of the 1986 apparition was known well in advance, and
considering that, Halley did perform pretty much as expected. One
positive side effect from the 1986 apparition being unfavourable
regarding peak brightness: instead Halley remained easily visible in
small instruments for quite a long time, about half a year. The 1910
apparition of Halley was considerably briefer.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter, Grev Turegatan 40, SE-114 38 Stockholm, SWEDEN
e-mail: pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se
WWW: http://stjarnhimlen.se/

In message , Paul Schlyter
writes

Comet West in 1976 was another beautifully bright comet, and at peak
brightness West was clearly brighter than either Hyakutake or
Hale-Bopp. However, West remained bright only for a very short time
and faded rapidly after that, and in addition West could only be seen
in the predawn sky near peak brightness. Most people aren't out
accidentially watching the sky at predawn hours (and most of those
who are are pretty drunk :-).

Did you see the post on uk.sci.astronomy from someone who saw Comet
West? His friends didn't believe him because they thought he _was_ drunk
:-)


Halley in 1986 was a disappointment to anyone expecting Halley to be
as bright as in, say, 1910. However, the unfavourable geometric
circumstances of the 1986 apparition was known well in advance, and
considering that, Halley did perform pretty much as expected. One
positive side effect from the 1986 apparition being unfavourable
regarding peak brightness: instead Halley remained easily visible in
small instruments for quite a long time, about half a year. The 1910
apparition of Halley was considerably briefer.


I've seen reports that many people saw the Daylight Comet of 1910 and
thought that was Halley.
And thinking some more, I don't recall seeing Ikeya-Seki in 1965, though
that was another very bright comet. In fact, the last half century at
least does seem to have had its share of bright comets.
I don't know as much about the half-century before that (I wasn't here
then :-) but was there a similar succession of bright comets between
1910 and 1957 (which saw Arend-Roland)?