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(meteorobs) Hale/Bopp Obser Mar 2 ZAYGE




March 2, 1997 

The weather man was wrong...at least from yesterdays initial forecast..dot it
was clear this morning....but I guess not for long. Anyhow, I got up at 02:30
so that I could head out to my Descanso observatory and take some pictures of
Hale/Bopp. The comet cleared a saddle in the distant hills at around
04:10...I started my first of 2 exposures at 04:15...a 30 minute exposure
with Black and white T-max 400. Afterwards...I quickly swapped cameras and
made a 26 minute exposure with Fuji color 400 film. I used my 10"SCT to do
the guiding  and my 200mm lens at f/3.5 to make the photographs. There were
no wind at all...Sky LM near 5.6 and clear. Hopefully I'll have something
worthwhile? I will try to develop the black and white image this evening from
work. 

Before I did my camera work, I was able to get some good looking thru my
14X100 binoculars. The comet is definitely getting bright. I estimated it's
magnitude to be at +0.4...midway between Vega and Altair. I measured the
comets dust tail at 3 degrees. This mornings view of the ion tail was the
first time that I was able to see it with ease and for any appreciable
length...I give the ion tail at least 5 degrees...and it looked ghostly all
by itself on the northern side. I had the feeling that if it was darker, I
would have been able to see it extend for at least another 3 or 4 degrees
with no trouble at all. The same jet is still to the south east...kinda like
a big bright fan streaming off the nucleus. It appears to me as one big
jet...but it could be more than one that appears merged?
George Zay
32 deg North
116 deg West
Descanso, Calif.