The comet Hale-Bopp, spotted early on by two keen astronomers, has invited even non-stargazers to glance to the night sky on a clear evening. Tuesday was the brightest night for the comet, and it will continue to fade until it disappears in late April.
Oberlin students can view the comet on a clear evening by looking to the north-west shortly after sunset or to the eastern horizon in the early morning sky.
The Physics Department is sponsoring a public viewing of the comet in the observatory in Peters next week. Fliers will be posted around campus detailing when the viewing will take place.
Joe Snider, professor of physics, said the plans are very vague at this point, but he hopes to have an open house on a clear night next week.
A few astronomy students were treated to a viewing with the telescope in Peters this week.
First-year Rick Kocher, a student in Astronomy 100, said the comet was huge through the telescope at the observatory.
"It was different than anything I'd ever seen before," Kocher said.
Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered on July 23, 1995 independently by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp. Neither astronomer was looking for a comet, but both found the blurry object in their telescopes interesting enough to report.
A comet is a ball of ice formed in the Oort cloud at the edge of the solar system. The Oort cloud is speculated to be a huge cloud of different-sized comets orbiting the sun about a light-year beyond the orbit of Pluto.
Comets are thought to originate 100,000 Astronomical units (AU) from the sun. The planet Pluto, is 39 AU from the sun.
Solar winds melt part of the ice ball, causing the tail that is characteristic of comets. Comets can range from a few kilometers to over 160 kilometers in diameter.
Hale-Bopp, a smaller but bright comet, is estimated to be about 40 kilometers in diameter. Exact sizes are difficult to determine because the inner core, or nucleus, of the comet is obscured by gas and dust.
The tail of the comet is thought to be millions of kilometers long and the coma, the dust and gas that surrounds the nucleus is several hundred thousand kilometers wide.
Can you see the space alien?: Brighter than Halley's comet and easier to see, Hale-Bopp will be around for a while, but the brightest phase has passed. (photo courtesy of the Internet)
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