Minister of Mystery
Photo by K. Hartnett
Minister of mystery,
The comet pierces history,
And lifts the head of mortal mind
To contemplate the Grand Design.
K. Hartnett, April 1997
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,and all their host by the breath of His mouth. (Psalm 33:6)
The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens. (Proverbs 3:19)
Comet Hale-Bopp - Brilliant Celestial Visitor
Named after its co-discoverers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, this beautiful comet was an easy naked-eye object during the months of March and April, 1997. Comets are bodies of dirty ice and rock which travel around the sun in long elliptically -shaped orbits. Some, like comet Halley, return relatively frequently. But most comets, like Hale-Bopp, take thousands of years to complete just one trip around the sun. Based on its orbit, this celestial visitor was last seen around the era of the Old Testament Patriarchs (ca. 2000 BC). Although the comet nucleus is usually only tens of miles across, the tail, formed from jets of steam and dust, can extend millions of miles. In this photo you can clearly see a blue plasma tail, made up of ionized gas, and a white dust tail. The complex interaction of the solar wind and the sun’s gravity cause them to separate in the vacuum of space.
I took this photo of comet Hale-Bopp from the Virginia countryside near Flint Hill. It was a bit windy and I feared the worst - jiggling telescopes make bad pictures. This was about a 12 minute exposure. -- K.H.
Hi Daddy :) Love that picture! Love you too!
Posted by: Lydia | August 16, 2006 at 07:34 PM
Mr. Hartnett, Sarah and I saw the... oh man I forget what it was that you told us to watch for... but we saw it... whizzing past Jupiter and on across the sky last night from the Jimmy Cone parking lot. Thanks for the "heads up"!
Posted by: Kate | August 18, 2006 at 12:49 PM
For a windy day that picture came out great!
Especially with the 12 minute exposure :)
Posted by: Michael Quinlisk | August 20, 2006 at 05:13 PM