Friday, Nov. 15, 1985
Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan
7
KU observatory to open if skies clear Star gazers hope to see comet tonight
By Mike Snider Of the Kansan staff
Halley's comet will be doing the riding while KU and Lawrence astronomers do the seeking tonight at Clyde W. Tombaugh Observatory at Lindley Hall.
The Lawrence Astronomy Associates, a group of amateur and professional astronomers, will try to view the comet tonight and Saturday night from 10 p.m. to midnight at the observatory.
The public is invited to the observatory and there is no charge to view Halley's comet. The comet visits the Solar System about every 75 years.
Last weekend, the group had to call off their late-night comet viewing sessions because of bad weather. If the weather will cooperate, Halley hunters should have some prime viewing time tonight.
"It's going to be clear, this week and next week will be the best viewing times because the moon is rising earlier in the evening," said Bruce Twarog, assistant professor of physics and astronomy.
"With the weather so bad, not much has been going on other than
waiting to see the comet," Twarog said.
Unfortunately, cloud cover hangs over viewers' chances to see the comet once again. The National Weather Service is predicting cloudy skies tonight and tomorrow.
Mike Holmes, Lawrence graduate student and a member of the astronomy club, said, "If it's still cloudy an hour in advance, we probably won't do it."
It takes about 15 people to set up the four to six telescopes used to view the comet, he said. Even if the clouds cleared up at the last minute, it would take too much time to set up the equipment. The group will decide about 9 p.m. whether they will open the observatory.
If the weather provides a marginal chance of viewing success before the 10 p.m. start time, the group will set up a slide show in case clouds dampen the viewering. Twarog said.
Weather permitting, the group will also set up a telescope outside the observatory for handicapped individuals to view the comet, Twarog said. The observatory is not accessible by wheelchair.
People can call the observatory at
864-3166 to see whether the observatory will open. If the observatory closes on Friday that doesn't mean it will be closed on Saturday, Holmes said.
If the clouds clear up, the comet will be visible on all the telescopes. Holmes said.
Mara Whitacre, president of the group, said, "I've heard rumors of sightings with the naked eye. But I wouldn't recommend that people try that unless they are very knowledgeable about the sky."
The comet should be visible just north of the Pleides, a star cluster in the constellation of Taurus. Look to the western overhead, at about 11 p.m. p.s., she said.
Holmes has gone to, the observatory regularly to try viewing the comet because he is anxious to see it. He was the first member of the astronomy group to see Halley's comet.
"It's a fuzzy spot, like a nebula." she said. "It doesn't look like a star. It's doesn't look like the comet pictures you've seen."
"We finally spotted it in the first days of October," he said. "We photographed it on the 12th."
Many people in Lawrence are finding their own way to view the comet.
"Alan Cornelius, manager of Zercher Photo Inc., 1107 Massachusetts St., and Zercher Photo Hilltop, 919 Iowa St., said his stores' sales of telescopes and binoculars had increased 30 percent to 40 percent since mid-summer.
Cornelius said the comet was brighter than astronomers thought it was going to be, making it bright enough to be seen through binoculars.
"They provide a fuller field of vision to see the full head and tail of the comet," he said.
To view the comet with binoculars, choose a cloudless evening, find a dark area away from the city lights, and look to the area of the sky that the comet is in. Cornellius said.
Whitacre said the group planned to schedule more viewing sessions this February when the comet finishes its orbit of the sun.
"If people don't get to see it, it's OK," she said. "There will be plenty of opportunities to see the comet. They shouldn't feel disheardened."
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