During the middle of 1985, 5 friends and I formed the Comet Halley Information Service to try and counter some of the mis-information and outright nonsense that the media and certain telescope retailers were spreading concerning the return of comet Halley. We spent the next 8 months conducting numerous lectures, viewing sessions, radio talkbacks, and shopping centre displays, which was great fun.
The Comet Halley Information Service team. From left to right: myself, Kim Felstead, Trent Smith, Andrew Pearce, Partick , James Athanasou.
Some of our most popular events were displays inside shopping centres.
Late night trading was on Thursday nights. If the weather was clear we would often set up the telescopes on the roof car park for people to see the sky, and the comet if it was visible.
