Untitled

The Comets
of the
Sky
By,
Ashley Hawkins
&
Lisa Carlton
For more info or pictures on comets click here

This is a comet. The head of the comet is dust and gas that surrounds the comet's nucleus. This will typically look round or, if the tail is bright,parabolic in shape.

Tail: When the comet comes close to the sun, the dust and gas is pushed away from the comet's head. this extension from the coma is called the tail. Tails typically point away from the sun. They can be straight, curved, or fan-shaped. A comet can have more than one tail. Tails can be quite bright or rather faint.
For more comet info click here

The Comet wil look much better from a dark sky. This is particularly true for late March when the head of the comet will be very large.

Let your eyes get dark adapted. This requires at least 20-30 minutes for most folks.

be kind to your eyes and your fellow observer... use a red flashlight. This won't hurt your dark adaption (unless it is too bright)! Dont have a red flashlight. Another suggestion (from Bob Black) is to cover the light with a cut up red ballon. To get the correct brightness level, go into a dark room (without windows). You should be able to see the floor (or ground) in front of you, but not much more. If you see more, the light is too bright.

Most importantly, contact your local astronomer society or planetarium. They will probably be having a "star party" to show folks the comet. You will get the most out of the experience this way.

It is strongly recommended that you take you take a simple star chart with you when you go tho observe the comet.

Comet Hale-Bopp
Discovered July, 23 1995
Was 100 million miles away from Earth.

False color image of comet.

For more images of comets click here

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