Little time left to see comet

Press, 19 April 1986, Page 9

Little time left to see comet

The view of Halley’s Comet has improved, but the average person has only about two or three days in which to catch a glimpse of it without using a telescope, says the assistant secretary of the Canterbury Astronomical Society, Mr George Patterson. A Carter Observatory spokesman in Wellington, Mr Dennis Goodman, said yesterday that the

was now easier to see than it was last week, when it was supposed to have been at its best. It had previously been embedded in the Milky Way, and its faint tail had been harder to see in contrast, said Mr Patterson. Now the comet had moved into the darker part of the sky and was more prominent. It could now be seen throughout New Zealand,

as a distinct fuzzy blob with a short fan-shaped tail. The Comet should not be confused with a similar globular cluster, called Omega Centauri, which was close to the comet at the moment, said Mr Patterson. The comet was brighter than the cluster at present However, a full Moon was due soon, which would make it harder to

see the comet. Also, since April 11, the comet had been moving away from both the Sun and Earth and was diminishing in brightness, said Mr Patterson. By the time an eclipse of the Moon occurred on April 24, the comet would be quite faint. “This is virtually the last chance for people to say good-bye to Halley’s CPmet” said Mr Patter-