Word: cometted
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Halley's is still months away, but comet mania is in full swing, with T shirts, hair glitter, gym bags, cocktails and hype already here...
...spring of 1910, when Halley's comet last blazed through the skies, some people were so afraid of the poisonous cyanogen vapors said to be in its tail that they barricaded themselves in their houses, sealing the windows and doors. As they cowered, they gulped down comet pills or sniffed on comet inhalers. Braver sorts wearing comet-shaped diamond hatpins or toting comet-knobbed walking canes flocked to rooftop parties at the old Waldorf-Astoria. In advertisements, bars of soap and cans of coffee were depicted flying through space, feathery tails in their wake. Comet mania was at fever pitch...
...with the famed comet due to begin its streak across the horizon in November, the hyping of Halley's is once again in full swing. At last count, 80 companies around the country were selling tens of thousands of items related to the celestial itinerant. Enterprising pitchmen are hawking comet coins, medals, travel bags, pendants, posters, glow-in-the-dark pencils, hair glitter and, in playful memory of visitations past, yogurt-flavored comet pills. More than three dozen books on Halley's compete for attention. Consumers can choose among Halley's T shirts, emblazoned with slogans such...
Although the returning comet was spotted back in 1982 by the mammoth 200-in. Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory, astronomers did not think they would be able to make naked-eye sightings until late December. But Halley's is much brighter than it was expected to be, a phenomenon that may be only temporary. Scientists say that the comet's current luminosity does not necessarily portend, during the coming months, a more brilliant display than they had anticipated...
...pair of good binoculars (recommended power: 7 x 50), assuming the observer finds a location free of city light, air pollution and overcast skies. Viewing will become increasingly difficult as the moon waxes (next full moon: Nov. 27), then will become better again early in December. But the comet, now traveling toward the sun at 70,000 m.p.h., will not show a noticeable tail until late in the month. Its appendage, consisting of dust and charged particles, could ultimately stretch some 70 million miles beyond the comet's nucleus. To witness the extended tail and see Halley...