Hale-Bopp

Extract from News Circular 196

SPA chart by Paul Sutherland will help you track Comet Hale-Bopp
as it travels from the morning sky to become a bright evening object in March and April.

Hale-Bopp is due to reach its peak brightness during the period from late-March through to mid-April. No one knows just how bright it will become. Last autumn, there was an uneasy period in which the comet's magnitude remained static for several weeks. By Christmas, however, the comet's brightness curve was back on track. If it keeps to its predicted brightness, it may reach magnitude 0 or even -1 in early April, but it is impossible to be certain.

During its peak period, Hale-Bopp will be visible marching through northern Andromeda and southern Perseus. As the comet will allways be fairly low, observe from a site with a good northern horizon. Try to observe from as dark a site as possible too, - only from a dark site will the tail look impressive. Nevertheless, Hale-Bopp is likely to be a much more compact object than last years Comet Hyakutake. Its brightness will be squeezed into a smaller area of the sky, making it stand out better against the sky background.

Lee Macdonald Director of the Comet Section

Comet Hale-Bopp Observations by SPA members

Links to other Hale-Bopp web sites

• THE COMET HALE-BOPP HOME PAGE
  
• The Astronomer Comet Page (TA)
  
• BAA Comet Page
  
• Calvin Hamilton's Comets Tour Page Lot's of images and a pretty comprehensive introduction to comets in general.
  
• Comet Hale-Bopp Home Page at JPL. (Image archive)
  
• Visit the Comet Observation Home Page. for News, Ephemerides and Light Curves. (Charles Morris at JPL)
  
• Comet Hale-Bopp Home Page at ESO (Fionn Murtagh at ESO)
  
• Comets and Meteor Showers (Gary Kronk)
  
• Comet Hale-Bopp Solar System Movie (Tom Polakis)
  
• Sky & Telescope's Comet Page
  

Maintained by Michael Oates Email: mike@ph.u-net.com Last modified 18th April 1997