schramm@tymix.UUCP (Steve Schramm) (03/09/86)
There will probably be many messages like this from across the country, but
I'm going to descibe my attempt to see Halley this morning here in the Bay Area.
We are pretty far north (~37N Lat) so I wan't expecting much this morning.
I jumped in my car at 4AM and crove up the foothills to Skyline Blvd, which
is a road that is sort of on top of one set of foothills. Unfortunately,
there is another set of mountains farther south, so the S and SE views are
not all that great It is dark, however. (Anyone from around here know of a
better place to hunt for Halley?).
Anyway, we've been having a storm the last few days, and as I got to the
foothills, the fog and clouds seemed worse than ever. As I got to the
top and started driving down Skyline, it was even raining a bit. However,
it had taken me 45 minutes to get there, and I was going to wait 'till
dawn in the off chance that it would clear.
About 5AM, my first good news: I could see the bright star Arcturus, and
then the rest of the constellation Bootes in the upper southern sky. Then,
the corona borealis and lyra (along with Vega) came into view. Then the
big dipper. The southern sky was still socked in, but there was hope, at least.
I kept waiting. At 5:30, the glow of dawn was already starting, and I was
quickly losing my optimism. But then, more spotty clearing, and I could
see Scorpio with blood-red Antares, and along with it Saturn and Mars.
It was 5:32. Time was short. More clearing. The teapot in Sagittarius.
5:34. The eastern sky was turning blue. I grabbed my 7x35 binoculars,
drew an imaginary line from altair to the horizon, another from the
to of the left handle on the teapot, and where they crossed...yippee! a comet!
IT was pretty faint in the dawn glow, but it was definitely there, which
a much more defined tail than in January. Probably magnitude 4 or so,
judging from the surrounding stars (maybe 3). Zoomong to 15x, it was much
easier to see the tail. It's still not very big, but it is moving closer...
sorry i rambled, but i'm excited, i guess. just wanted to share it. good luck.
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{allegra, hplabs, ihnp4}!oliveb!tymix!schramm