dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (03/05/86)
If you're up before dawn, you may glimpse Comet Halley near the waning moon. More -- after this. March 5 Halley and the Moon If you missed it in January, this month is your chance to try again. Comet Halley returned to the southeastern sky before dawn in late February. Tomorrow, if you are in the country and have a clear view toward the southeast, you can look for the comet to rise just to the left left of the crescent moon. The moon comes up tomorrow at about 4:30 a.m. as seen from 30 degrees N. latitude. It's no fun getting up that early. But it's worth it to stand outside in the stillness before dawn, imprinting your memory with the once-in-a-lifetime sight of Comet Halley near the waning moon. Well, maybe twice-in-a-lifetime. Halley will be near the moon before dawn again next month, on April 1. But then the moon will be larger, and its glare will interfere with the view. In another couple of days, the moon will be a very slim crescent, which rises just before sunup. Then it will be gone from the predawn sky altogether, and people will get the best look at Comet Halley before dawn. The comet should be brighter now than it was in January. Because it came nearest to the sun last month, its tail should be longer, perhaps 20 degrees in length. Look for the comet to the left of the Teapot in Sagittarius. You may or may not need binoculars to see it -- but you will want a dark country sky. So that's Comet Halley -- now at its best as seen from the northern hemisphere -- in the southeast before dawn. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin