Search: The Web or BeYoND-THe-iLLuSioN Only 
From: Doug Roberts (doug@nolimits.demon.co.uk)

01/08/95



This article was scanned from The Australian on Tuesday the 1st of August.



By science and technology writer, JULIAN CRlBB



---------------------------------------------------------------------------



THE appearance of a vast shining object out beyond Jupiter is electrifying

astronomers worldwide in anticipation of what some say may prove the comet

of the millennium.



The cosmic giant appears to be 1000 times larger than comet Halley, huge

enough to shine in daylight as it appntaches the Earth during the next 15

months.



Initial fears that its orbit might intersect the Earth's have been

discounted by the latest observations, which indicate it will turn away

between us and Mars.



Astronomers say they still do not know exactty what the glowing object is -

either the biggest comet yet seen or a smaller freak that is blowing off an

immense cloud of frozen gases as it approaches the sun.



Designated 1995 01, the comet was spotted on July23 by amateur astronomers

Alan Hale of New Mexico and Thomas Bopp, in Arizona. It is expected to take

the name of Its discoverers as comet Hale-Bopp and outshine in public

altention the spectacular Shoemaker-Levy collision.



Dr Duncan Steel of the Anglo Australian Observatory said last night the

comet lay directly over Australia, near the constellation Sagittarius.

However, attempts to study it here have been hindered by cloudy weather. It

is about 140 million kilometres away from Earth and is the brightest object

observed so far in the region beyond Jupiter.



Its brightness indicates either that it is large or is blowing off an

enormous halo of frozen gas and ice.



"The interesting thing is that this comet is well out beyond Jupiter, where

comets are usually inert," Dr Steel said.



"It could be that this is a giant new comet arriving from the Oort Cloud,

never having passed into the planetary region near the sun and is rich in

volatile ices like carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia which would

evaporate out where it is now.



"But is is so bright it must be over 100km in size." Comet Halley is an

irregular blob measuring 15km by 12km by 8km, making the newcomer 10 times

the breadth and 1000 times the bulk.



Dr Steel said it was clear the comet would not strike the Earth, although

when first spotted astronomers "had our hearts in our mouths since the

initial orbit computations indicated (it) would pass uncomfortably close to

the Earth". Harvard University astronomer Dr Brian Marsden said it was

unheard of for a comet to be visible with small telescopes at such a

distance. "It could become the comet of the millennium as it comes towards

the sun over the next year or two." he said.



Observatories worldwide are training their instruments on he mysterious

newcomer, with the AAO scheduled to make bservations over the next few

nights - just to make sure the giant's orbit realty is safe.

Disclaimer: The file contained in the box above or displayed in a separate window from a link in the box above is NOT owned nor implied to be owned by BeYoND THe iLLuSioN. Most files at BeYoND THe iLLuSioN are originally from public Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) which were popular in the days before the Internet or from gopher, web, and FTP sites from the early days of the Internet which no longer exist today. Essentially, all files were acquired from the public domain in one for or another.

However, there have been occasions when copyright protected material has appeared on BeYoND THe iLLuSIoN without permission of the copyright holder. In these instances, we have and will continue to remove the copyright protected file as soon as it is brought to our attention. This can now be done using our Report Copyright Material form. Fill out the form, and the webmaster will be notified of the situation.

There are also times when files found on BeYoND THe iLLuSioN have a real home somewhere else on the Internet. In these instances, we will gladly replace the file with a link to its true home whenever it is brought to our attention. If you know of the true home of any of these files, you can use our Report Original URL form to bring it yo our attention.