The upcoming solar eclipse in Cairns is attracting visitors from around the world.
Among them is
Tom Bopp, who Mai and I had the pleasure of meeting today when
we were invited to a house at Penrith, in Sydney's west.
Tom chatted to us at length about the discovery of Hale-Bopp in 1995 and those
of us who saw it 1997 will never forget it. It was certainly one of the great comets
of the 20th century.
After a period of bad weather, a clear night had given Tom and a friend, Jim Stevens,
the opportunity to head south out of Phoenix to bring first-light to a 17" scope Jim had just
made.
They had looked at the Lagoon and then moved onto M70. Jim had
looked first and spotted nothing unusual but when Tom let the field drift, a 11th mag.
fuzzy became evident within the same FOV as M70.
After consulting with a couple of star atlases including Uranometria, they realized they
might have a comet so they observed for some time and confirmed that it had
moved.
Tom drove to a service station and called Brian Skiff, who he knew, at Lowell.
Brian's answering machine took the call so Tom was unable to get an independent
observation. Knowing too well that many people make fools of themselves
with a "non-discovery", Tom nevertheless tried to find the number for the
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) but the operator was of no help.
Getting back to town and having no email, Tom sent a telegram!
The following morning Tom jumped out of bed when he got a call from CBAT
and they congratulated him on the discovery. The following day Brian Marsden
called him and said "Tom, it's a monster". Though it was 7.2 AU out it was
already very bright.
Andy Warhol once said that in the future everyone will be world-famous
for 15 minutes.
For Tom, the discovery of the comet put him in the world media spot light but there
was a dark side to that as well.
When someone saw what were diffraction spikes on a background star, they reported
it to a radio personality that specializes in cults and conspiracy theories. The story
was broadcast that the diffraction spiked star image was in fact the "thrusters of
an alien spacecraft following the comet".
The mainstream US media picked up the story from the nut-job radio broadcaster
and spread it further. When the religious cult group,
Heaven's Gate heard the story,
they believed aliens were coming to take their "souls" to "the next level".
39 of the cult drank poison and committed suicide.
Video by Marshall Herff Applewhite, leader of Heaven's Gate cult here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9UXKOIvuYE
A reporter from a very large American network called Tom and the first thing they said
was something to the effect of "don't you feel guilty over the deaths of these people?"
Tom, rightly, just hung up on them.
Tom of course, a science advocate, had nothing to do with the nut jobs broadcasting
the alien spacecraft nonsense. Then Tom started to receive anonymous threats.
However, Tom continues to be a science advocate to this day and whilst here in Australia
will be doing an interview on ABC radio and will give some astronomy presentations
to Queensland school kids.
I have attached a picture of Tom below taken with a phone camera. If you are up
in Cairns and recognize him, please be sure to give him a big "hi".
Tom, we certainly hope you enjoy your stay in Australia.
Gary Kopff
Mt Kuring-Gai NSW
A meeting with Tom Bopp in Sydney today
