Comet Hale Bopp

Discovered in July 1995 by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp was the brightest comet ever seen at its distance. This gives the history of its discovery, explains how to view it from fall 1996 to spring 1997, and explains the relationship of comets to the birth of our solar system, and to asteroids, meteors and eclipses of the sun and moon.

How to find, view and photograph the comet of the century!

A fascinating introduction to the recently discovered Comet Hale-Bopp that will soon burst onto the celestial scene. The comet will be one of the most-studied and perhaps brightest. It arrives on the heels of other recent comets in the year of the comet. Hockey's book fills the long-standing demand for a guidebook that helps everyone gripped by comet-fever appreciate this spectacular event. It is written in a lucid style for a non-technical readership. Biographical details and first-person quotes from Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, among others, humanize the science behind the comet and capture the feel of what could well-be the astronomical event of the decade. The book provides the reader with charts and tables to locate and observe the comet. Hockey tells the story of the comet's discovery, astronomer's reaction to it, and their preparation for its arrival. It also discusses other famous comets, including Comet Halley, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Comet Hyakutake, and their significance.

The twentieth century has been a disappointment, comet-wise, but the object now approaching, Comet Hale-Bopp,bears a striking resemblance to the Great Comet of 1811,the biggest-headed and most enduringly visible comet everknown. Will Hale-Bopp be our Comet of the Century? Inthis book, whose publication is timed to coincide ......

"His keen astronomical interest bubbles from every page...The book we will still be consulting a decade from now is Schaafs."SKY & TELESCOPE "The book of the century on comets."NORTHERN LIGHTS "The book that will still be useful long after Hale-Bopp has dimmed from view is Schaafs Comet of the Century." SPACE VIEWS "So well written that it will appeal even to the reader who does not know the difference between an asteroid and an adenoid."PATRICK MOORE

Comet Hale-Bopp defines a milestone event for cometary science: it is the first "really big" comet observed with modern equipment on the ground and from space and due to that; it is considered the new reference object in cometary sciences. At the beginning of a new era in spacecraft exploration of comets and five years after Hale-Bopp's perihelion passage these proceedings of invited and contributed papers for IAU Colloquium 186 "Cometary Science after Hale-Bopp" review the state-of-the-art knowledge on comets, the icy, dusty and most primordial left-overs of the formation disk of our own solar system.

Spectacular and mysterious objects that come and go in the night sky, comets have dwelt in our popular culture for untold ages. As remnants from the formation of the Solar system, they are objects of key scientific research and space missions. As one of nature's most potent and dramatic dangers, they pose a threat to our safety--and yet they were the origin of our oceans and perhaps even life itself. This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of the biggest and most awe-inspiring of all comets: those that have earned the title "Great." Robert Burnham focuses on the Great comets Hyakutake in 1996 and Hale-Bopp in 1997, which gripped attention worldwide because, for many, they were the first comets ever seen. He places these two recent comets in the context of their predecessors from past ages, among them the famous Comet Halley. Great Comets explains the exciting new discoveries that have come from these magnificent objects and profiles the spaceprobes to comets due for launch in the next few years. The book even takes a peek behind Hollywood's science-fiction fantasies to assess the real risks humanity faces from potential impacts of both comets and asteroids. For everyone interested in astronomy, this exciting book reveals the secrets of the Great Comets and provides essential tools for keeping up to date with comet discoveries in the future. Robert Burnham has been an amateur astronomer since the mid-1950s. He has been a senior editor of Astronomy magazine (1986-88) and is the author of many books and CD-ROMS, including Comet Hale-Bopp: Find and Enjoy the Great Comet and Comet Explorer.