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(meteorobs) Hale-Bopp From S.F.
Hi all,
I observed Comet Hale-Bopp Friday morning, Feb 28 between 4:15 & 4:40
AM from my front door in a light polluted section of San Francisco (Bernal
Heights). Since I am a night person, it was easier for me to stay up to
4:00 rather than <gasp> awake at that unholy hour! Consulting my Voyager
program & using my trusty 7 x 50 binocs, Hale-Bopp was right there,
forming a scalene triangle with Upsilon & Zeta Cygni. Using my right arm
to block out the 6 intruding street lamps & 2 house lights, Hale-Bopp was
easily visible. In fact, you could see a short ~1.5 degree, fat tail at
12 o'clock with the binocs. Since the comet was ENE, I thought that I
might have a better view going to my back porch, thus hoping to vanquish
those hideous illuminations. Sure enough, the comet was just peeking
above my neighbor's roof, however, I had to contend with the super bright
mercury lamps of a nearby ball field, which were not extinguished at that
hour, though they should have been. The comet was still breathtaking,
appearing like an out of focus Deneb. I was not able to see the ion tail,
though. I viewed 'til 4:45, went to sleep @ 5:00 & awoke ~ 8:00 to
prepare to teach my intro astro class. I certainly had a neat story to
tell them!
Darryl