ajs@hpfcla.UUCP (12/29/85)
The January, 1986 Sky and Telescope says the first known naked-eye
sighting of Halley's Comet during this apparition was by two people in
California at 0145 PST, March 8, 1985. They were at 7000' in the San
Gabriel Mountains (north of LA) and estimated the magnitude at 6.3 or
6.5.
Meanwhile, last night here in Fort Collins (elev. 5000', pop. ~70000),
it was not quite naked-eye visible, due to city lights and the rising
moon. Maybe tonight, out of town...
Alan Silverstein, Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Systems Division, Colorado
{ihnp4 | hplabs}!hpfcla!ajs, 303-226-3800 x3053, N 40 31'31" W 105 00'43"GMS@PSUVM.BITNET (01/01/86)
P/Halley has been of naked-eye visibility since at least December 6,
when I observed it from the Penn State Observatory atop Black
Moshannon Mountain in central Pennsylvania. It was then about 6'th
magnitude.
I have to point out that the observing sight is a good 30 miles from
(and significantly above) any major light sources. Also my eyes were
well dark-adapted. From the same spot on December 30 I could also see
the comet naked-eye. It was not easier to see then as opposed to
the earlier time. It is somewhat brighter, but also smaller, and that
combined with its lower altitude are compensating for its closeness to
the Sun.
Thhough my 8-inch F6 Newtonian reflector, however, it has changed
significantly. On the 6'th the coma was large and diffuse (almost
1/2 degree) with a thin, faint tail almost 1.5 degrees long. On the
30'th the nucleus was obvious (and twinkling!), the coma was brighter than
before but also smaller, being no more than 15-20 arcminutes across, and
the tail was bright and, while still thin and straight, seemed shorter
but brighter than before (about 40-50 arcminutes) and seemed to 'fan out'
along one side.
I am interested in comparing observations with anyone else who has been
watching P/Halley with a telesope.
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ajs@hpfcla.UUCP (01/02/86)
Re: naked-eye Halleys
> I read the article (p. 27), it was *November* 8th.
Eeyuch, that's a naked error. Of course, it was November, not March.
Wonder how that got through me proofreading twice? Ouch, sorry.
Oh well, you get what you pay for...
Alan Silverstein
PS: I finally, faintly saw it tonight, outside and above town (several
miles west and 1000' above, at about 6000'). Lights weren't much of a
problem, but it was cold enough to turn every breath into an ice-cloud,
not to mention freeze your eyeballs (very bad for seeing).canopus@amdahl.UUCP (Alpha Carinae) (01/02/86)
> (Alan Silverstein): > The January, 1986 Sky and Telescope says the first known naked-eye > sighting of Halley's Comet during this apparition was by two people in > California at 0145 PST, March 8, 1985. They were at 7000' in the San > Gabriel Mountains (north of LA) and estimated the magnitude at 6.3 or > 6.5. > I read the article (p. 27), it was *November* 8th. On March 8th, the comet was about mag 16, and over 400 million miles away! The rest of the info you give is accurate. I do hope you get to see it before the end of January. Weather here has been terrible the past two weeks - we are buried in fog! -- Frank Dibbell (408-746-6493) ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,sun}!amdahl!canopus Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA [This is the obligatory disclaimer..]