Twenty five since Halley

[astroron]

March the eleventh was the 25 anniversary of the ESA Giotto encounter
with Comet Halley,what a momentous occasion that was.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMMA0YTVKG_index_0.html
Cheers

[Ric]

That has passed rather quickly, That was an interesting article Ron.

My grandmother was one of those lucky people to see it twice when she was 14 and then 90.

I"ll be 102 on its next return, dont like my chances much.:D

[renormalised]

I'll be 96 when it heads back in:)

I was observing the comet from the driveway at home, back in '86. It was a big topic in the Geology Dept at uni. Same when Voyager 2 flew by Uranus and Neptune. Both those times I was out at uni doing all nighters, watching the flyby's on TV:):)

[astroron]

I would be around 120:eyepop:
so no chance of me seeing it again:sadeyes::lol::lol::lol:

[renormalised]

You never know your luck in a big city, Ron:):):P

[snas]

I was in one of the best locations anywhere for a clear, dark sky view of Halley. I was jackarooing on Alroy Downs on the Barkly Tableland. We were in a stock camp which was about 30km from the actual station and also about 30km north of the Barkly Highway (which was also on Alroy Downs! Area = 9018km^2). At night we could see the glow of the headlights of the road trains and, if there was a gentle SE breeze, we could hear the road trains....from 30km away. There were so many stars that, even if I knew the constellations it would have been very difficult to make them out. Sadly, although I had this thought in the back of my mind that I was curious to know more about astronomy, I didn't even have binoculars with me. So all that I got to see was a smudge in the sky.
One of the aboriginal stockmen, Rex, a very big (as in lean and muscular) and very black man about 25 years old I guess who was a really nice bloke, came to me one morning and said:

Rex: "Hey, Tooey" (the aborignals seemed to have a big problem pronouncing the letter S, so I was always Tooey). I been thinkin' Tooey. It been warm in the morning lately. I reckon it dat comet makin' it warm mate."

Me: "nah, Rex, that comet's pretty small and it's a real long way away and it's made of ice! I don't reckon it's the comet"

Rex: "Nah, you wrong Tooey, it dat comet mate!"

Rex and I were good mates, so I let it go at that, didn't see the point in arguing my point. I'd like to see Rex again so I could let him know that he has now appeared in IIS forum.

The only constellation that the aboriginals seemed to talk about was the Plains Turkey which I suspect was just the Milky Way as it stretched from one side of the sky to the other.

Please note that referring to Rex as very black is not a racial insult, it's just a statement of what is. The aboriginals referred to themselves as black fellas if they were black, or yella fellas if they were brown and to us as white fellas. Just a statement of fact.

Regards

Tooey

[MrB]

You're right Ric.. that has passed fast.

I was 11 when it came thru. My Brother and I used to sneak out of the house with mum's binoculars in the early morning and walk to a friends house. He had a telescope but I don't recall what it was.

Back in those days the street lights went off about 1am or something like that. I can remember it being very quiet, very dark and sooo many stars.
I can also remember being surprised every night how much it had moved.
And the thrill of sneaking out of the house and walking the streets in the blackness!

[Rob_K]

Great memories, thanks Ron! :thumbsup: I was living at a small gold mine way out in the bush in NE Victoria. Heavy tree canopy all over except along the track leading up to the house, and we sneaked several views of the comet as the sky arced across. Brilliant dark skies. I remember it as being inspiring, thinking of the history of this object.

Now if I can just hang on till I'm 108... :lol:

Cheers -

[Liz]

Will you be studying at Uni when ya 96 Carl?? :D

I was working in Melbourne (pre Astronomy interest) and ... pretty saw it from one of the hospitals down there ... I think I saw it, so long ago though.

[renormalised]

Sure, I'll be still spring chicken:):):P:P

[mental4astro]

I was fifteen at the time, and spotted Halley's with my 2" Tasco refractor from my home in Sydney. I did a sketch of it too, probably my first astro sketch too. I remeber having seen a faint tail too, and only with averted vision. Man, I still remember that! I've been trying to find the sketch over the last couple of days, hoping to be able to post it too. It'll take a little longer to find alas, :(. I'll post it when I do.

Thanks for the link too, Ron.

[GrampianStars]

WoW! 1/2 a lifetime ago already :eyepop:
I was disappointed at the time with how small it was.
Considering all the media beat up.