Comet Halley. April 7, 1986.
8 minutes exposure. 3M 1000 slide film. 50mm f/1.8 Yachica camera.
Comet Halley. April 7, 1986.
15 minutes exposure. 3M 1000 slide film. 50mm f/1.8 Yachica camera.
Comet Halley. April 7, 1986.
15 minutes exposure. 3M 1000 slide film. 50mm f/1.8 Yachica camera.
During April, I travelled around much of the state giving lectures and public viewing night for the comet. Much of the time, I was travelling around the Western Australian outback, much of the time camping at night several hundred kilometres from the nearest towns. As a result, the skies were spectacularly dark, with naked eye limiting magnitudes around 7.5 or better. Such dark skies resulted in wonderful views of the comet.
The comet by now was around 2.4 magnitude. Since the dust tail was still pointing mostly away from the Earth, it was still very short, less than 2 degrees, The ion tail was about 3 degrees long in the telescope, but very faint. By now the comet had moved out of Scorpius and into Norma, and so was moving away from the brightest portions of the Milky Way, making it easier to observe.
