dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (07/28/85)
Comet Halley returns near the sun on this date -- in the year 2061. More on Halley -- after this. July 28 Twice in a Lifetime Comet Halley travels closer to the sun than Venus and farther out than distant Neptune. Right now the comet is approaching our vicinity of the solar system. On February 9, 1986, it'll pass perihelion, the closest point to the sun in its 76-year orbit. It's hoped the comet will be visible to the naked eye around that time -- in the months just before the comet's February 9 perihelion -- and in the months just after it. In the MOMENTS after perihelion, the comet will stop moving toward the sun and begin another long journey toward the outer part of the solar system. By 2024, Halley will be as far from the sun as it gets -- and it'll start moving sunward once more. Then Halley will again be closest to the sun -- at perihelion -- on today's date in the year 2061. Halley takes some 76 years to orbit the sun once -- about a typical lifespan for many Earthlings. Some of our older listeners have written in to tell of their memories of seeing Comet Halley in 1910. They say they're looking forward to a second view of the comet. In the winter and early spring of next year many parents will take their small children out to a dark countryside -- and show them the famous Comet Halley. For these children too may come the chance of seeing Halley twice in a lifetime. So if you're into long-range planning, you might want to mark today's date on your calendar -- the return of Comet Halley nearest the sun, in the year 2061. Script by Diana Hadley and Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin