places off-planet #5 – Comet Hale-Bopp 1996
Comet Hale-Bopp could be seen from Earth in late 1996 and early 1997. Its strange name is from the independent co-discoverers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp. Hale-Bopp was a large comet, with a nucleus of about 60 miles in diameter. It had two visible tails, one of gas and one of dust, and had a third tail of sodium. It has been called the most-observed comet in history. Hale-Bopp won’t be back until 4385!
I have no specific memory of Hale-Bopp itself, although I do remember a common saying in our household in 1997 was to greet almost every out-of-place object with “Hail! Bopp!”. The poem I wrote after seeing the comet is all I have to know how it appeared to me.
Do you remember seeing Hale-Bopp?
photo from Wikimedia Commons, taken by Philipp Salzgeber
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Hale-Bopp
also a comet
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Hail! bright star
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a flare in the western sky
a diamond
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a sparkler
embedded in smoke
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© Jane Tims 1997
nichepoetryandprose 
I remember looking for it! I have memories of being disappointed by the hyped Comet Kohouhtek, and looking for Halley’s Comet back in 1986. It’ll be back in 2061 🙂
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Watching Seasons
May 17, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Hi Tracey. I’ll probably miss Halley’s next time, too much else to do, you know. Jane
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jane tims
May 18, 2012 at 6:45 am
Odd..I don’t remember it either. That must have pre-dated my interest in the night sky.
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Deborah Carr
May 15, 2012 at 7:08 pm
Hi Deborah. I find that sky-events are generally ignored on the evening news, unless you watch the Weather station. Jane
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jane tims
May 16, 2012 at 7:23 am
Some day I’ll see a comet…we live in hope….
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snowbirdpress
May 14, 2012 at 5:20 pm
ditto. Jane
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jane tims
May 15, 2012 at 1:59 pm