Halley's Comet perhaps sent a very early RSVP of its return!

[kt4hx]

Interesting to speculate whether a piece of Halley's dove through the roof of a home in central New Jersey yesterday (May 8). Since the Eta Aquarids meteor shower is currently underway, and that shower's progenitor is Halley's, it seems feasible. It will take some study to determine the origin of this metallic object that came from above.

https://centraljersey.com/2023/05/08/po ... hip-house/

[messier 111]

interesting, can't wait to see the results .

[kt4hx]

interesting, can't wait to see the results .

It would be quite cool if it is indeed a piece of Halley's. Of course having a meteorite hit your house is interesting in and of itself anyway. I saw Halley's back in 1986 when we were in West Africa. Other than its historic context, it wasn't much to look at then from our location. Unfortunately, I don't think I will make it to 2061, as I would be about 107 yrs old!

gramps.gif (2.44 KiB) Viewed 715 times

[Unitron48]

I viewed Halley's in !986 from Satellite Beach, Florida. Not much to see, but I coerced all my office-mates to take a peak through my 60mm refractor!! Like you, that was my only opportunity.

Dave

[kt4hx]

I viewed Halley's in !986 from Satellite Beach, Florida. Not much to see, but I coerced all my office-mates to take a peak through my 60mm refractor!! Like you, that was my only opportunity.

Dave

Yeah, I thought it was rather dismal. Hopefully it will do better 38 yrs from now, not that we will care!

[OzEclipse]

I hear people complaining about Halley's Comet being "not much to look at" over and over, in this thread and other places. When I drill down and ask some questions, I often find that most waited until it was going to be at "maximum brightness in the evening sky" with Moon interference in April.

Many amateur astronomers and practically the entire general population did not get out of bed before dawn when Halley was pre-perihelion in Aquarius from mid-late March 1986. Stephen Edberg's NASA technical book was quite clear about the relative observing geometry pre and post perihelion. Halley's was not a disappointment. It was a bright coma with a beautiful scimitar shaped tail trailing behind for several degrees to the naked eye. It was something to look at. When it was in the evening sky, the tail was pointing almost directly away from us and hence invisible. But that was your fault for looking at the wrong time, not the comet's.

Let's stop the Halley’s Comet bashing. It was a beautiful comet if you looked at it.

Joe

[AstroBee]

Joe, maybe for you, down under, you had a better view. For us in the northern hemisphere, even in March, Halley's was not much to look at. Especially when you compare it to some of the great comets that have come since then, such as Comet Hyakutake in 1996, Hale-Bopp 1997, Neowise in 2020, even 2014 Q2 Lovejoy in 2015 was much better.

I imaged Halley's comet from a very dark site in the early morning hours of March 16th, 1986 and could not make it out with the naked eye. I observed Hyakutake from downtown New Orleans, LA standing next to the SuperDome with the naked eye.
So yes, Halley's was a dud compared to the several I mentioned above and quite a few others since.
Halley's comet - MARCH 16th, 1986 5:05-5:15am local time.

[John Baars]

Halley was a beautiful comet. His fame was worldwide. I won't say anything about that. Attached is a sketch I made in November 1985. In total I have seen Halley 9 times. The public at the public observatory also thought it was impressive. Kohoutek's deception was still quite there.
However, Hale Bopp, Hyakutake and Neowise were more impressive. If I am allowed to believe contemporaneous observers, comet West 1976 was even more impressive, pity I have no good memory of it. Hale Bopp was already visible with the Sun still above the horizon. So...at least three of them quite impressive.
Without detracting from the beauty of Halley, I can imagine that compared to the three aforementioned comets Halley loses out in the eyes of observers.