The purpose of this blog is to reproduce, on the Internet, my weekly column written for the Winnipeg Free Press in 1985, 1986 and 1987. Each article is posted on the day it was first published. Details about this project in the About page listed in the sidebar.
Use the pulldown menu for Select Month under Jump to 1985 – 87 in the sidebar to find the posted material.
Comet discovery overshadows other significant achievements
When the caller on a local open line radio show asked the expert guest (me), “can you tell us something about who this fellow Halley was?”, I could only talk about the Comet connection. Also, I did what you’re supposed to do when you don’t know the answer, I said that I did not know much about that.
I admit it, I do not find biographies of other people very interesting. It seems that many people do, and several kind folks have called me to fill me in on the life of Edmund Halley. So, for everyone who wants to know more about the man whose name pops into our minds every time we think of comets, here is some of the most interesting stuff I could find.
Neat time
Halley lived from 1656 to 1742. Well, so far that’s pretty dull news. Actually it was a really neat time to be around if you’re interested in astronomy, especially if you lived in England. Halley was a colleague of Isaac Newton, who ranks with Einstein, Galileo, Planck, and a few others in developing the most significant concepts of how our universe works.
Almost all biographers point out that Halley’s many accomplishments are overshadowed by the single discovery that the comet he saw in 1682 was the same one that appeared in 1531 and 1607. It returned in 1758, as he predicted, and it has been called Halley’s comet ever since.
Two things about his life seem to be particularly interesting. First he was very enterprising, and this resulted in several successful exploits. Second, he was involved in some of the most famous disputes and astronomical history.
Halley seems to have a flair for doing things dramatically. In 1676, before he had a chance to gain his bachelor’s degree, he decided his astronomical career was not advancing quickly enough. He convinced John Flammsteed, the Astronomer Royal and founder of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, that there was a real need for a catalogue of the stars that can be observed only from the southern hemisphere, and that he was the person to do it. In addition he was able to obtain a letter from the King recommending that the East India Company provide him with a free round-trip to the island of St Helena. His wealthy dad gave him an allowance of £200 a year.
Two years later he was back in England, and soon published his catalogue. It made him immediately famous. The king commanded Oxford University to award him a master of arts degree, and the Royal Society elected at him a fellow. This was a class act.
When his father was murdered in 1684, things became tough for this privileged young astronomer. He was short of cash, and he was involved in litigation with his stepmother. In spite of the small annual salary of £30, he took the job of clerk of the Royal Society. In order to do this, he was required to resign his fellowship. This society sounds wonderful, but it was not well managed. They had chronic problems collecting membership fees, and they had just paid the bills to publish a book on the natural history of fish. Would you want to buy the book? No one else did. There was so little money left from that adventure that Edmund Halley had to accept copies of the book in lieu of part of his salary.
Halley was involved in several major disputes, all of which made astronomical history (or made it more interesting). Robert Hooke and Johannes Havelius were debating whether it was better to use telescopes for measuring stellar positions. Anyone can see that this is pretty exciting stuff. Anyhow, the Royal Society felt that the discussion was becoming so filled with acrimony that they dispatched Halley to spend some time observing with Havelius, and at the same time, find a way to smooth things over. The visit went well, but some years later we hear of Havelius claiming that Halley was sent to spy on his work. Imagine.
Isaac Newton’s great book the Principia, was edited by Halley. The Royal Society still had a large inventory of History of Fishes, and could not afford to publish Principia. Halley decided to finance the project himself. It seems that three people independently came to the same idea that is expressed in the book, the law of universal gravitation — Isaac Newton, Edmond Halley, and Robert Hooke. When Hooke complained that he was not being recognized as the author of the idea, Newton decided not to proceed with writing. It was largely due to Halley’s efforts that these problems were sorted out and the book was finally finished and printed.
All of this makes Halley sound like a busy, but boring, academic. I was pleased to find the references said that he drank brandy like a sea captain, and swore like one. In 1698 he moved to London. Among his friends there was young Czar Peter of Russia (later to be called Peter the Great). One uninspired account said they often dined and discussed scientific matters long into the night. Another story has Pete in a wheelbarrow and Ed at the helm three sheets in the wind. It seems that the party wound through Deptford leaving a swath of broken hedges. Neither account is well documented.
Significant
In addition to his interest in comets, and his work with Newton on Principia, he made a number of significant contributions to astronomy and related disciplines. He described the universe that was infinite in extent, and suggested that some of a hazy patches in the sky were clouds of glowing gas. He also said that the so-called fixed stars actually were moving in space. Those were revolutionary ideas in those days.
For two years he was at sea plotting the variations of the magnetic field of the earth and producing a chart of the Atlantic Ocean. Not too surprisingly, he was able to talk the Admiralty into granting him the rank of captain, and giving him a ship. The job should have taken one year but things were delayed in the first year by a mutiny led by his first officer. After the court-martial, the second year was relatively uneventful.
His published works range from navigation, oceanography and under-sea diving, to astronomy, optics, archeology and statistical analysis. It is often suggested that if it were not for the comet, Halley would be as well remembered for his many other achievements. I am sure that he would be pleased that we hear his name and wonder about him every 75 years.
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Saturday, January 4, 1986, page 27.
In 1986 Robert Ballantyne was director of the Manitoba Planetarium. His weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Sky Watch, focused on the return of Comet Halley.
© 1985 Robert Ballantyne and The Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg Free Press, Saturday, November 30, 1985 page 63
FOR AMATEUR astronomers, this is a wonderful year for seeing comets. If it were not for Comet Halley, another comet would have been the most memorable astronomical object of the year. Comet Giacobini-Zinner was an easy object to see in a telescope, and it was the first comet ever to be visited by a spacecraft.
This August, as those of us in Manitoba were trying in vain to have our first glimpse of Comet Halley, the way to end a frustrating observing session was to look at Comet Giacobini-Zinner. It was an easy object in medium-size telescopes, it moved noticeably across the sky from night to night, and there was the knowledge that soon it was to be visited by a space probe.
Comet Giacobini-Zinner stays much closer to us, and the sun, than Comet Halley, and it returns every six and a half years. It has been observed 11 times since it was discovered by Michel Giacobini in 1900. At its closest point to the sun, it is just slightly beyond the orbit of the earth. This is ideal for an approach by a space vehicle.
Fleet of spacecraft
Although there is a small fleet of space craft heading for Comet Halley, none is from the United States. For those interested in the U.S. space program, this is a major disappointment. On Sept. 11, the U.S. probe ICE penetrated the head of comet Giacobini-Zinner, and beat all the other missions to a comet.
ICE began its existence as International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3), a little spacecraft that was designed to park itself in orbit around the earth, at an altitude of 120 times the diameter of the earth, in the direction of the sun. (The moon is only 30 earth diameters away.) It was supposed to quietly monitor the solar wind; its designers never thought about comets.
Fortunately, to stay in orbit, it required the use of onboard maneuvering thruster rockets. After three years ISEE-3 proved it was a versatile craft when it carried out a second mission. Using the thrusters, it journeyed to the other side of the earth to investigate activity in the other regions of the earth’s magnetic field. That was in 1982, and U.S. space planners had heard the final word that they would not have the budget for the Comet Halley mission. Now they had an alternate plan.
For the low cost of three million U.S. dollars, ISEE-3 became International Comet Explorer (ICE) and, on Feb. 8, 1983, It was on its way to rendezvous with Comet Giacobini-Zinner.
Success story
While It is a wonderful success story, those of us who work at a planetarium tend not to be as enthusiastic about ICE as the mission merits. Since it is designed to measure the activity of the solar wind, it contained no cameras. We have trouble showing people who visit the planetarium a lot of data — we prefer to show pictures. ICE is blind. Instead, ICE can measure magnetic fields, detect sub-atomic particles, and record the energy of radio waves. This instrumentation was well suited for a mission to a comet, and it produced some new information about comets, and the changes in space caused by their passage.
ICE roared into the tail of the comet at the meteor-like speed of 21 kilometres per second. Although the comet looked like a tiny wisp of light in our telescopes, and in spite of the fact that the lump of ice at the centre of the comet — the nucleus is only a kilometre in diameter, the atmosphere around the comet is vast. ICE spent two hours and 42 minutes traversing 204,000 kilometres of the interior of the comet. Scarcely a second passed when a particle of dust did not strike the antenna. There was some concern that, if any larger particles were encountered, the craft might be disabled.
Scientists are gloating over the fact that most of the new information confirms the current theories about how comets behave. They discovered that the most common molecule sublimating from the comet’s nucleus is water. This is consistent with our picture of a comet; that is, 85 per cent frozen water with ices of carbon monoxide, methane and ammonia, along with fine dust and perhaps some rocks.
Some of the surprises include the discovery that the interior of the comet’s tail is writhing with magnetic fields. It was thought that the interaction between the magnetic field of the comet and the solar wind would be similar to that which occurs around the earth and other planets. Here, the solar wind compresses the magnetic field of the earth, which can then effectively deflect much of the wind. ICE produced evidence of more complex processes.
Soon, the European Space Agencies’ space craft, Giotto, will plunge into the head of Comet Halley. It will fly so close to the nucleus of the comet that it will be destroyed by the density of material streaming away from the comet. It has a huge battery of scientific equipment on board, including a camera. Pictures!
With all of Giotto’s discoveries, it will be hard to remember this little craft that was the first to fly by a comet.
Valuable service
The ICE mission to Comet Giacobini-Zinner performed a very valuable service. In addition to providing information about the environment of the comet that will be useful in determining the best trajectory for Giotto, it gives us two comet examples to study. Although the U.S. did not manage a mission to Comet Halley, their clever use of ICE will contribute to our understanding of Halley, and all comets.
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While posting this article to the blog, The Return of Comet Halley, I came across this account of the recent contacts with the spacecraft ICE called “IT’S ALIVE!” << Follow the link to read that article posted at The Planetary Society. If ICE is to have another comet mission after it returns to the Earth-Moon in 2014, the person who will likely make the proposal is Jim Slavin.
In 1985 Robert Ballantyne was director of the Manitoba Planetarium. His weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Sky Watch, focused on the return of Comet Halley.
© 1985 Robert Ballantyne and The Winnipeg Free Press
Added to this blog on 2010 April 18
Thousands see Halley, get a look at Jupiter
THE HEATER IN THE VAN DIDN’T work very well, and we thought that was an advantage for the big telescope in the back. Telescopes need to be the same temperature as the surrounding air to avoid air currents in the tube and the resulting degradation of the image. The cool air was relief. Bill Peters and I were over-dressed in anticipation of standing for hours in the cold. The newly-emerged stars were motionless above the speeding countryside. We were heading for Steinbach.
One sure way to guarantee a blizzard is to plan a public observing night. We were rejoicing: the sky was cloudless, and the temperature was unseasonably warm. Bill looked at the thin crescent moon about to set in the west. “That moon is like an advertisement,” he said, “lots of people will see it and think of Comet Halley Sky Watch No. 1. We could have a good turn out.”
It was Nov. 15, and we had announced that this would be the first chance for people to see Comet Halley. We wanted to be out of Winnipeg to avoid the light pollution, but l wondered how many people would drive to see a little fuzzy object in a telescope.
Excellent facilities
We thought we were well prepared. The Mennonite Village Museum was providing excellent facilities, including a heated restaurant and lecture room, and an adjacent lot with electricity for the telescopes. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Winnipeg Centre, and the Manitoba Astronomical Club were bringing a total of 14 telescopes. There would be a series of indoor lectures, and two television crews: Switchback and CBC 24 Hours Late Night News. All we needed was a few people to show up.
We arrived at 6:30 p.m., an hour before the public was invited. There already were a few dozen cars, and a fair crowd of people. Peter Goertzen, director of the Museum, said they had started to arrive at 5 p.m.
I began to wonder if we really were prepared. During the next hour the flow of cars arriving increased from about one a minute, to bumper-to-bumper. The large yard for telescopes was as crowded as cocktail party, and half of the telescopes hadn’t arrived. Many members of the committee were still in their cars, trying to drive into the site. The TV crews were showing up and some of the kids had discovered that Laurie Mustard was here! Now I was sure. We were not prepared for the crowds.
Comet watchers lined up at the Steinbach Mennonite Village Museum for a look through a telescope
The next hour-and-a-half was a blur of setting up telescopes, working with TV crews, giving astronomical talks to groups, and telling countless people where the comet was in the sky (at that time it was near the Pleiades), and that it was just possible to see it with 7 x 50 binoculars, but probably not in 7 x 30s. Some people wisely had brought their binoculars so they could learn how to find the comet, and then be able to follow it by themselves in the weeks to come. I remember everyone as being very friendly, patient, and in remarkably good spirits as we tried to get our act together. Someone estimated there were more than 2,000 visitors.
Although it looked like a clear evening, there were some ice crystals at low altitude and it made the comet, which was low in the east, hard to spot, even in the bigger telescopes.
Some time after 9 p.m., things calmed down. The telescopes had arrived, were set up, and cooled to air temperature. Comet Halley was high enough to be seen in even the smallest telescopes, and the lines of people were moving in an orderly fashion. It was hard to believe. Our carefully worked out schedule of who was supposed to be at what post was in a shambles, but it didn’t really matter. The evening was mild enough that the telescope operators agreed to stay outside for more than the planned 1/2 hour shifts.
“Look down into this plumbing,” I said for the, umpteenth time, referring to the eyepiece that was at right angles to the telescope, “and move your head until you see the stars. The comet is right in the centre of the field. It looks as if someone has erased some of the black of the sky.” Often, to make sure that people were actually seeing Comet Halley, I would ask them to describe what they saw. “A piece of lint” said Laurie Mustard.
Early in the evening, some of the telescopes were focused on the planet Jupiter, until it settled into the trees. Towards 11 p.m. people had a chance to see the Andromeda Galaxy, and the greenish fan-shaped Great Orion Nebula. By that time the sky was clear, the lines relatively short, and many folks looked at the comet several times through a variety of telescopes. One of the plans that had not materialized was to count the number of people who attended. Judging by the length of lines at telescopes, and the number of cars that had arrived, we estimated we had shown Comet Halley to about 4,000 people.
The comet was not impressive, but this was only the first look. Between now and January it will move rapidly from the eastern sky to the western sky at sunset. During this time, it will grow from a small, dim, hazy patch of light, to the traditional image of a comet — complete with a tail. If it continues to develop as we have predicted, by Jan. 10, everyone should he able to see it without the benefit of a telescope. It is my hope that some of the people who saw it at this early stage will be able to feel that they have personal sense of this astronomical object, hurtling through space and being transformed by its encounter with the sun.
Next viewing
On Monday I had a call from someone who wanted to know when Comet Halley Sky Watch No. 2 would be held. We are planning several programs including something for mid-December and at least one in January. Comet Halley Sky Watch No. 2 will be a more modest event at the Fort Whyte Centre for Environmental Education Dec. 8. The space for this one is limited and there is a charge. For information call, the Fort Whyte Centre
In 1985 Robert Ballantyne was director of the Manitoba Planetarium. His weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Sky Watch, focused on the return of Comet Halley.
© 1985 Robert Ballantyne and The Winnipeg Free Press
The caller on the phone had just spent more than $1,000 on a used telescope. He had no success finding comet Halley, and after viewing several stars at high magnifications, wondered why anyone would be interested in astronomy. “What do amateur astronomers do anyhow?” he asked
My mind raced over the past 23 years of sky watching: the adventures of chasing eclipses, the hours spent making observations of Jupiter and the sun, the excitement of an 18-person meteor shower observation team, the whole planetarium career, telescope making, countless friendships, and I did not have a ready answer. I think I mumbled something about trying to develop an appreciation for who we were in relationship to the universe in which we live. I felt the answer was inadequate.
At the Manitoba Astronomy Club, an organization for those under 18 years, and operated out of the Manitoba Planetarium, we are trying to find good answers to that question.
In spite of the troubles of the caller, astronomy is available to everyone. Nightly, when the sky darkens, the great wonders are displayed for us to appreciate, or ignore. No one needs a telescope to see evidence of the monthly orbiting of the Moon, or observe the zigzag motions of the planets due to the earth orbiting the sun, or watch the changing altitude of the sun that causes the seasons, or see meteor showers and eclipses.
What the caller lacked, and what remains a barrier for most people, is a basic understanding of what is going on in the sky. When I have begun courses in astronomy, I have said that, if the sky is a dazzling and incomprehensible view of creation, then remember that feeling, because it soon will be replaced by something else: a sense of familiarity. It is ironic that we are part of the most sophisticated civilization that has ever existed on earth, and yet, as individuals, we seem to have lost touch with the night sky. Now we are dazzled by bright city lights, and the universe seems to pale in comparison.
My point is that basic astronomy is easy, it is fun, and the subject matter is always at hand. This is what the amateur astronomer has discovered. Once past this barrier, the hobby allows for a multitude of activities and explorations.
At MAC, we run a basic astronomy course once or twice a year so that everyone there is able to pass that barrier and get on with the neat stuff. For instance, there is a lot of attention being given to Comet Halley right now. That is largely because of its celebrity status. While it will be a very good comet, for amateur astronomers it is the third or fourth comet that they have seen this year.
Astronomy is not just a nighttime affair. One of the most interesting celestial objects to observe is the sun. It is large and bright, and therefore easy to observe with the smallest of telescopes. It also is very active, with sunspots that appear and vanish. Because of the brilliance of the sun, it also requires some knowledge to observe — the sun’s rays can blind the careless, and damage the improperly used optical equipment.
Teaching
Teaching introductory astronomy courses has made me aware of three things. First, how simple the concepts of astronomy are. The difficulty that some experience seems to be the fact that, for most of us, all of the information is completely new; it is removed from our previous experience. Second, much of the course consists of just becoming familiar with the constellations, and the catalogue of astronomical objects. Learning this leads to many other insights. And finally, familiarity with the cosmos does not breed contempt. It does enrich ones life, and allows the amateur astronomer to participate in the drama of a science that is always facing a new frontier of potential discoveries.
There is one sure way to pass through the initial barrier. Join one of the two local organizations of amateur astronomers: MAC or the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Winnipeg Centre; and make astronomy a hobby.
What you will find is that astronomy is not one hobby, it is a multitude of avocations.
Astronomy allows several hobbies and abilities to be combined. A knowledge of cameras and darkroom techniques is most useful if you decide to try astrophotography. A machinist can make every component and accessory for a telescope, and it is not uncommon to find a lathe in an astronomer’s basement. Every astronomy club needs people who have skills in accounting, organization, and teaching.
My telephone caller had expected the telescope to show him the universe. He had looked at some stars, and all he saw were some spots of light made brighter by the optics.
In case I have given the impression that observing plain stars is boring, I will admit that this is sometimes true.
Alberio
But I would love to show you a certain star In the constellation of Cygnus, called Alberio. It looks like one star to the unaided eye. The telescope reveals it to be two stars. They are beautiful. This is really a solar system with two suns. One sun is shining with a golden light, and the other is a steely blue. The imagination can conjure up fantastic scenes of the interplay of light on a planet that might circle one of those stars.
In 1985 Robert Ballantyne was director of the Manitoba Planetarium. His weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Sky Watch, focused on the return of Comet Halley.
© 1985 Robert Ballantyne and The Winnipeg Free Press
COMET HALLEY IS IN THE sky. It is moving noticeably among the stars from night to night. Since we first saw it in August, local observers have watched it become transformed from something so faint that it was barely perceptible in the biggest telescopes, to a hazy ball of light that is visible in a midsized amateur telescope. One especially sharp-eyed person reports that she could easily see the beginnings of a tail on the comet.
If you do not have a telescope, you will have your first chance to see Comet Halley next Friday night.
Comet Halley Sky Watch #1 will take place at the Mennonite Village Museum, just north of Steinbach, between the hours of 7:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Admission is free.
Very often, when the public is invited to look through telescopes, they do not have the opportunity to learn exactly what it is that they are seeing. The wonder of the telescope is not that it shows beautiful views of the universe — often the objects seen are faint and indistinct, and certainly not self-explanatory — but that you can see real things that populate our galaxy. When we can understand what it is that we are seeing, we can begin to develop a sense of who we are, and how and where we fit into this universe. For this reason, Comet Halley Sky Watch #1 will have an indoor program to explain something about the telescopes, to give some background on Comet Halley, and to talk about some of the other interesting things in the sky. Because of the indoor program, Comet Halley Sky Watch #1 will take place even if there is a cloudy sky.
Several organizations are combining forces to give us this early look at Comet Halley: the Manitoba Planetarium of the Manitoba Museum of Man & Nature, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) — Winnipeg Centre, The Manitoba Astronomy Club (MAC), and the Mennonite Village Museum. Each is providing volunteers to make the event happen. For a long time we have known that Nov. 15 would be a special observing night for the comet. As you may know from reading these articles, the best time to view a faint object, like the comet, is when the moon is not around. Therefore we seem to have a series of good observations once a month during the dark of the moon, and then we have to wait while the moon goes by; and the next month we are back out to see what has happened.
Moon waning
This past week the moon had been waning away in the early morning sky. On Tuesday there is a new moon, which means that the moon is so close to the sun in the sky that you will not see it. For the next two weeks, the comet observers will be out with their telescopes.
Incidentally, and this has nothing to do with the comet, at the time of the new moon, there will be a total eclipse of the sun. If you want to see it, the best place for viewing will be north of the Ross Sea on the coast of Antarctica. I know that it will be spectacular, and I wish I could be there.
The other thing that makes next Friday special is that it is the first of three days during which Comet Halley will be sliding past a very prominent star cluster called The Seven Sisters or The Pleiades. This means it will be very easy for everyone to look up in the sky and know exactly where the telescopes are pointing.
In addition to observing the comet, Comet Halley Sky Watch #1 will have telescopes trained on a number of interesting astronomical objects. The Pleiades look stunning in small rich-field telescopes. It is a galactic star cluster, a group of stars which are all young and hot. They were born together from the same dust cloud and they are continuing to move together through space. There are several beautiful clusters in this part of the sky.
This is the best time of year to observe the Great Galaxy in the constellation of Andromeda. This vast whirlpool of stars is the giant in the local group of galaxies, and If you have good eyesight, it is the most distant thing you can see without a telescope. It is one of those objects that does not look impressive, but when you understand what you are seeing, it is awesome.
Jupiter is the brightest star-like object shining in the southwestern sky lately. Because of its churning atmosphere and its family of moons, it’s always an interesting sight in a telescope.
Astronomy buffs
Powerful scope is essential for astronomer Ballantyne
If you have ever thought you might be interested in astronomy as a hobby, or if you have been considering buying a telescope, Comet Halley Sky Watch #1 will, give you the chance to meet people who love the subject and have considerable experience. Both the Royal Astronomical Society and the Manitoba Astronomy Club will have tables set up to explain what they are all about. The RASC accepts membership from anyone with an interest in astronomy over the age of 16. MAC is associated with the Planetarium and its members are all under 18. In addition to looking through the telescopes, be sure to ask the operators about the size and nature of their ‘scopes, and then compare with the others. Consider cost and convenience as well as the optical excellence of each.
Folks in Thompson can see the comet Friday Nov. 15 if the sky is clear. Bill Taylor will have a program at Eastwood School, with a movie at 7 p.m., followed by viewing of the comet through an eight-inch (20.32-centimetre) telescope. If the weather is cloudy, the viewing may be rescheduled
In 1985 Robert Ballantyne was director of the Manitoba Planetarium. His weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Sky Watch, focused on the return of Comet Halley.
© 1985 Robert Ballantyne and The Winnipeg Free Press
Study of old photos will help chart way through the comet’s maelstrom
GOOD OBSERVATIONS, and good records have always proved useful in astrononmy. Over the years it is amazing how often a new theory insight has been helped by examining existing observations.
When a faint Saturn-like ring around the planet Jupiter was discovered by the Voyager spacecraft, everyone was amazed; except for S.K. Vsekhsuyatskij who, two decades before, had published observations of the shadows of the rings cast on the surface of Jupiter. Unfortunately, at the time, this significant discovery went almost unnoticed.
Now the photographs of Comet Halley taken in 1910, the last time the comet was in our skies, are being reworked to find detail that the original observers never dreamed was there. The difference is that the astronomers of 1910 did not have the benefit of computers, so they had no way of seeing all of the information in the pictures they were taking.
Great astronomer
One of the great astronomers of the early part of the century was George Ritchey of Mount Wilson Observatory in California. Among his many achievements, he was responsible for grinding the mirror of the 100-inch telescope — at the time the largest in the world.
It was through this mighty eye that our universe was transformed from a single galaxy, our Milky Way, to a cosmos populated with countless galaxies.
Top Photos taken June 2 (left) and June 5, 1910. With computer enhancements below.
Photographs of Comet Halley, taken by George Ritchey in 1910, were the result of the same kind of painstaking labor known to any astronomer today.
A telescope and a camera are technically the same thing. When it is a telescope, an eyepiece is placed at the viewing end, and the astronomer can look at the image created by the telescope.
When it is a camera, a film plate is placed at the locus the telescope. The advantage of film is that it can soak-up light over a long period of time and reveal more than the eye can see. It is the astronomer’s job to make sure that the telescope never wavers from the object during the exposure. An astronomical exposure may take from a few minutes to several hours.
The process of controlling the telescope during photography is called ‘guiding’. This is necessary because the sky is always moving due to the rotation of the earth.
Telescopes have clockwork motor systems to drive the telescope across the sky at the same rate as the stars. Because of the slight magnifications, small adjustments are always required. The astronomer borrows some of the light coming through the telescope for an eyepiece. This eyepiece has a dimly illuminated pair of cross-hairs. The object photographed, or a nearby star is placed in the cross-hairs, and the astronomer keeps it there by speeding up or slowing the telescope
It is a tedious and exact job, and there is no room for error.
Comets are more difficult to photograph than most objects In the sky because they move independently of the stars.
This fall, when Bill Peters was in Arizona researching material for the planetarium show The Comet Adventure, he obtained a remarkable series of photographs from astronomer Stephen M. Larson.
Precisely guided
As part Of their preparation for the new pictures that will be taken of Comet Halley, Larson and his colleagues used 1910 photographs, and a computer to see if they could find new ways to process photographic data. Fortunately, those pictures were taken by George Ritchey. His guiding was so precise that the pictures preserved detail that he never saw.
Look closely at the accompanying pairs of pictures. They are the head, or coma, of Comet Halley as taken by Ritchey on the nights of June 2 and June 5, 1910. The top version are the images as Ritchey saw them, just hazy balls of light. Below each is the computer enhancement. There is much more detail.
In each picture there are a number of wavy streaks. These are stars. During the exposure the telescope was following the comet, which was moving compared to the stars. Each of the little ripples in the star-trails is a correction that Ritchey made at the telescope.
Many more stars
The computer pictures show many more stars. They also have some spurious shadow images of the stars that can sometimes be seen as black lines.
The really interesting features are the jets, and shells of comet material. The picture taken June 2 shows a jet appearing from the bottom of the nucleus, the next day the stream is much longer, and fainter. If the jet is not as violent, it forms a spiral as the comet rotates.
The energy for this material being ejected from the surface of the comet is the heat from the sun. We are seeing the comet-version of a volcano. The gases in the jets are accelerated to speeds of one to two kilometers per second. The sun-warmed surface of a comet must be a dynamic and exciting place.
Both the European Space Agency spacecraft, Giotto, and the Soviet probes, Vega 1 and Vega 2, will fly into the head of the comet, and try to get close to the nucleus. These jets could be fatal to the delicate craft. Larson will be analyzing, and he will recommend the safest route through the danger zone.
In 1985 Robert Ballantyne was director of the Manitoba Planetarium. His weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Sky Watch, focused on the return of Comet Halley.
© 1985 Robert Ballantyne and The Winnipeg Free Press
ASTRONOMERS LOVE TO DESCRIBE nature in terms of numbers and mathematical formulae. At the planetarium, we look at all of this and say, “Yes, that is all very interesting, but what does it look like?” A planetarium has to be able to show it. The question is simple, but it can produce some interesting results.
Because it is small and well concealed inside the atmosphere, or coma, of the comet, the nucleus of Comet Halley has been the invisible author of the great celestial show that we see every 75 years.
When it returns
In the new planetarium program, The Comet Adventure, producer Bill Peters wanted the show to illustrate what it might be like as the first humans land on the icy heart of Comet Halley, when it next returns in the year 2061. Artist Ed Barker had to find the answer to “what does it look like?” Everyone imagined that, because the comet is icy, the surface of the comet would present a miniature Arctic scene.
The first clue that this concept might be misleading came from some of the new research that was done on Comet Halley early this year. Astronomers made a series of infrared measurements with the three-meter NASA infrared telescope facility, and the 2.2-meter University of Hawaii telescope on Mauna Kea, in Hawaii. Surprisingly, they were able to announce the approximate color of the comet’s nucleus.
At the beginning of 1985, the comet was close enough to the sun that its heat was starting to evaporate some of the surface ices to produce the coma. There was a short period between the time when the nucleus was close enough, and bright enough to observe, and the point when the nucleus vanished inside the growing coma.
The astronomers measured light from the nucleus through filters at different wave-lengths, and were able to deduce that they were looking at a very dark reddish object. The astronomers said “No comet observed by us has a color consistent with clean ice.” This was exciting new information.
For dramatic reasons, we wanted the surface of the comet to be an active place. The next piece of startling evidence was collected during the 1910 passage of Comet Halley, although the researchers at the time did not know what they had found.
Photographs
In Arizona, planetary astronomer Stephen Larson has been re-working 1910 photographs of Halley using a computer to enhance some of the features. As a result, Larson has been able to derive the speed of rotation of the Comet, as well as the orientation of its spin axis.
For our show, we discovered the surface of comets could be very dynamic. Warmed by the sun, the gases do not simply evaporate from the surface of the comet like snow on a sunny day. Larson’s pictures show violent jets of material being spewed into space.
Recent discoveries aid Planetarium staff in making comet model
Barker decided to illustrate the changes that take place on the surface on the comet by building a model of the surface. We use full-circle photography of the model to put the audience right in the scene.
He began with Styrofoam on a doughnut-shaped table that was 5-1/2 feet in diameter. It had a two-foot hole in the centre for the camera. For days Baker worked with a hot-wire Styrofoam knife to sculpt the fantastic surface of the comet as it was when it was as far from the sun as planet Jupiter. This is the point when the sun is just beginning to transform the sleeping comet from the little ice world that has remained unchanged since it headed out of the solar system in 1986, to the fuming giant that will shine in earthly skies In 2061.
Acrid smell
When the acrid smell of burning plastic faded, Barker was spraying, dabbing, and brushing the surface with a palette of colors, especially reds. Carborundum and barnsite (grit) were worked into the surface for texture. And finally, he added a dusting of stucco sparkle to provide reflections from the comet’s crystals.
The Fred Whipple, a comet-lander spacecraft, was added to the scene and photographed. Immediately, Barker attacked the surface of the comet with the hot-wire knife, lopping off icy spires, and opening up fissures where special-effects projectors will allow great jets of gasses to vent into space. This is the comet at its closest approach to the sun. Four scenes use this model. When we last see it, there is a light frosting of ice crystals caused by some of the coma freezing to the surface of the comet as it begins another 75 year Journey away from the sun.
At the planetarium, we will be interested in all of the new information that will be discovered about Comet Halley in the coming year. We particularly will be intrigued to see if there is anything that will indicate how accurate we are with our images of the comet’s nucleus.
In 1985 Robert Ballantyne was director of the Manitoba Planetarium. His weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Sky Watch, focused on the return of Comet Halley.
© 1985 Robert Ballantyne and The Winnipeg Free Press
THE QUESTION THAT EVERYONE at the Manitoba Planetarium must answer several times every day is, “will I be able to see Halley’s Comet from Canada?”
THE COMET'S COURSE - image from Winnipeg Free Press 1985 Oct 19, click for full image
The best that we can promise is probably. Since we do not know exactly what is going to happen in the next few months let me share with you some of the drama that we are experiencing with the comet.
“Is it going to be another Kohoutek?” I am asked accusingly. Do you remember Kohoutek? In 1973 the media got hold of the idea that it could be the great comet of the century, but it didn’t turn out that way.
When scientists attempt to predict the performance of something like a comet, they will also express their margin of error. They did that with Comet Kohoutek. And the comet always remained within that margin.
Unfortunately, everyone was interested only in its potential to be spectacular. Actually it was a fine comet, easy for an amateur astronomer to observe, and well studied, even from Skylab. From the public’s point of view, it was almost impossible to find in the sky, and was therefore a fizzle.
So, now what about Halley? Here Is my prediction. From Manitoba, Comet Halley should be fairly easy to see In the western sky, at the end of evening twilight, in January. To be fair, it may be visible only with telescopes and binoculars. However, with three months to go, I am optimistic that you will be able to view it easily just by going outside and looking in the right direction.
This is what is happening. Since 1948, comet Halley has been falling towards the sun. From the outer part of the solar system, the Earth and sun seem very close together. In effect, the comet has been falling almost directly towards us.
That means that, from our point of view, the position of the comet has been almost stationary in the sky.
Knew location
Although we could not observe It — it was too far away, and too tiny — we knew that it was up there more or less between the constellations of Orion and Gemini. Each year, as we go around the sun, the comet seems to make a small loop in the sky. This little circle is due to our own movement. Each year the comet has come a little closer, and each loop is a little bigger.
Last August, as the Earth swung out from behind the sun, we headed toward the incoming comet for the first time. The earth circles the sun counter-clockwise, the comet goes clockwise. We pass Comet Halley on Nov. 27. Although this is one of our two close approaches to the comet, it is still small and quite far from us — more than half the distance to the sun.
Early this month the lazy loops of Halley’s path in the sky ended abruptly; the comet has begun a dash that will take it from the eastern sky, at dawn, to the western sky at twilight.
Now it is high in the sky, and well placed to observe. It is also so faint that you need a telescope of at least eight inches aperture (diameter of the main lens) just to glimpse it.
Here is the drama. It will continue to become brighter as it slides closer and closer to the sun. About Jan. 20 it will be so close to the sun that it merges with the evening twilight, and vanishes until it has gone around the sun. When it re-emerges, it will be too low in the sky to be seen from Canada.
The question is: will it be bright enough before that to be seen by naked eye?
Astronomers use a quaint method of measuring the brightness of an object with a system that has changed little since the days of ancient Greece. The brightest stars are called first magnitude, and the faintest that can be seen by the human eye are sixth magnitude.
The only real improvement is the agreement on the mathematical relationship between magnitudes. Each Increase in magnitude means the object is 2.512 times fainter. You might be interested to know that, although no one really likes the system, there is no discussion about making this awkward system metric.
When the Planetarium staff first observed the comet in August it was around 14th magnitude, and seemed a little dim compared to predictions.
This is when we decided that it was prudent to make no extravagant promises about the performance of Comet Halley. Recent observations have made us more optimistic.
Getting brighter
Right now, the comet Is still around 10th to 11th magnitude. It is still too early to judge when it will reach fifth magnitude, the point when we can all see it without binoculars.
Our best guess is that that should occur about Jan. 10. Therefore, we have a 10-day window, Jan. 10 to Jan. 20, to observe the comet without telescopes.
To complicate matters, there will be a waxing moon in the sky after Jan. 13. Its light will make it harder to see the comet.
So, this is our early prediction. We will revise it in about one month’s time. We are looking forward to observations in mid-November, when the comet is around ninth magnitude. At that time we should be able to have a much more accurate estimate.
We may be lucky. In January, we may be able to go outside see Comet Halley as a little wisp of light in the evening twilight. If not, and you still want to be sure to see the comet, you will have to learn how to use a pair of binoculars, or a telescope, and how to find faint things in the sky.
To develop those skills the Planetarium is running a lecture series called Comet Halley and the Universe. On Oct. 29 I will present the session on observing the comet. For details please contact the planetarium office.
In 1985 Robert Ballantyne was director of the Manitoba Planetarium. His weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Sky Watch, focused on the return of Comet Halley.
© 1985 Robert Ballantyne and The Winnipeg Free Press
During October and November of 1965, the comet Ikeya-Seki made a hairpin turn around the sun and treated "star-gazers" to the most spectacular celestial sight within last 20 years.
THE TERM amateur astronomer is usually used to refer to someone who has the hobby of studying the sky. It also suggests a lack of professionalism, and that makes it somewhat insulting. And the reference to star-gazing seems like a trivial name for contemplating the cosmos.
Every night, all around the world, whenever the sky is clear, there is a legion of people who set up their telescopes and make careful observations of the wonders of the universe. Most of the time they look at things that have been viewed before, but sometimes they contribute to the science of astronomy by seeing something for the first time.
Many new comets are discovered by these people. I have known only one.
I remember David Levy as a young, intense teenager, back In the late ’60s when we both were members of the Montreal Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. He was one of the few people who were prepared to take this comet and nova search business seriously. It meant that each night, as part of his observing program, he would undertake to carefully sweep through specific areas of the sky, looking for the glimmer of a new star or the hazy spot of a comet. This exactng work meant that he had to become completely familiar with his areas. In addition to the chance of making a real astronomical discovery, he really enjoyed becoming this attached to the sky.
Brlef fame
There is a small reward for all of this work. If you find a comet, it will bear your name. Since most comets vanish into oblivion after afew weeks or months, the fame is brief.
Accurate observations usually mean keeping good records, even negative records. Those records can help suggest how quickly a comet is becoming brighter when one is spotted some hours after a negative report was made. When David and I went to seek our fortunes in different cities, he had accumulated about 250 hours of comet and nova reports. (A nova is a new star — actually one that is exploding.) All were negative.
At the Manitoba Planetarium, we hear about comets by receiving postcards from the International Astrophysical Union. Whenever there is a new comet, a card arrives announcing it, and providing some sparse details. Last November the IAU card for Comet Levy appeared on my desk. A couple of weeks ago, in preparation for the new planetarium program, The Comet Adventure, Planetarium Producer, Bill Peters visited David Levy. He is now associated with International Halley Watch, and is working at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory on the University of Arizona campus. Bill asked David what It felt like to find a new comet.
“I feel that my ambition to become an astronaut has been totally achieved at the moment of discovery of a comet. I feel that I have been given a gift from nature. I feel that the sky has been looking at me for 25 years and saying for most of the time ‘It’s been a pretty boring relationship. I’ve put up with all of your telescopes and everything that you’ve tried to do. But tonight, for once, you have done good, and so here is a comet for yourself.’”
David talked about his 25-year love affair with the night sky.
“I searched for 917 hours and 28 minutes (to find the comet). I like to keep a record, not just for the statistical reason of finding out how long it has been since the last time I found something cometary, but because I catalogue all the other things that the sky presents to me in a night, or a year of comet hunting.”
Personal relationship
He spoke as if he was having a personal relationship with the sky.
“The telescope is pointing at something like the moon or the Ring Nebula, and you look up at the sky and say ‘okay sky tonight we’re going to begin with the Ring Nebula.’ Well the sky comes back to you and says, ‘All right, if you want to look at the Ring Nebula, I’ll show it to you if you I can find it.’” The Ring is a bubble of gas around a star in the constellation of Lyra
“When I hunt for comets it’s a different game. I define a large area of the sky through which I want to search. As I uncover the telescope I imagine saying to the sky, ‘okay sky, it’s up to you what you want to show me. You may show me a galaxy, a red star, a cluster of stars, or some recently discovered comet. You may even show me a new comet. I don’t know what you are going to show me, but whatever it is, I want to see It.’ When the covers are taken off the telescope, and I am just about to put my eye to the eyepiece to begin my night of sweeping, I look back at that sky and say, ‘Okay sky, it’s your show. Make my night.’”
Every amateur astronomer has a different reason for looking at the sky, it is filled with so many unfathomable mysteries. AIthough David now works in the field of astronomy, I do not think that his affinity with the heavens has changed because he Is no longer an amateur.
In 1985 Robert Ballantyne was director of the Manitoba Planetarium. His weekly column in the Winnipeg Free Press, called Sky Watch, focused on the return of Comet Halley.
© 1985 Robert Ballantyne and The Winnipeg Free Press
