[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: (meteorobs) Hale-Bopp has a Beard!
GWG wrote:
> Last wekend I saw a nice slow orange 2nd magnitude meteor cross the corner of
> the field in the 12x63 binoculars as I watched the comet. It was interesting to
> see a flare coming off the side of the meteor toward the comet as it crossed
> the field going down to the NNW. This was something I had never seen before, as
> well as a beard on a comet!
This reminded me of a week ago. I finally had a good view of H-B
during the morning of March 20 even though there was an interfering
gibbous moon that only set as twilight came up. There was none of the
haze and mist that had plagued earlier nights. Nevertheless I did see
an 8-deg ion tail and a curved 13-deg dust tail with the naked eye
around moonset. While I was enjoying the views with binoculars I
spotted a couple of telescopic meteors and a couple of aircraft
traverse the comet. Seeing the dark vapour trail against the bright
tail looked eery. My TMs were only 4th and 6th mag. To compensate at
04:11:57 I saw a visual fragmenting fireball with a brilliant -8
terminal burst; it more akin to a firework. It travelled
approximately along the RA 8hr (1950) great circle from near the NCP
at about 9deg/sec. Don't have the precise co-ordinates with me.
I'm looking forward to an Easter weekend in darker Suffolk (in eastern
England) to get further views of the comet as moon disappears from the
evening sky.
Clear skies,
Malcolm
References: