Word: halley
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...York City apartment, Mader dispatched Caribbean Bureau Chief Bernard Diederich to Colombia, then quickly ascertained that TIME's Tom Quinn, who works out of Bogotá, was already on the story. As the death toll mounted, Mader decided to send Rio de Janeiro Bureau Chief Gavin Scott, who was covering Halley's comet, to Bogotá to join the TIME team. Unlike Mexico City immediately after its earthquake, Bogotá had a functioning airport and telex and telephone lines were intact. Still, to get to the Nevado del Ruiz area, Diederich had to hitch a ride on a Colombian helicopter carrying fuel...
...located the same diffuse blob with his naked eyes. Meanwhile, Edberg sketched the position of the dim light and compared his drawing with the magnified view of the object provided by his binoculars. Sure enough, there it was. The two men had made the first unaided sighting of Halley's comet since the celebrated phenomenon's previous visit, 76 years ago. Joked Morris: "We jumped around and gave a few yells into the night air for the coyotes to hear...
...binoculars and small telescopes at a region near the Pleiades, a tight star cluster in the eastern sky. Like Morris and Edberg, all hoped to catch a glimpse of the itinerant mass of frozen water, rock and gas whose periodic reappearance was first predicted by English Astronomer Edmond Halley...
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...
Indeed, unaided viewing from most places in the U.S. may be difficult or even impossible, at least until mid-December. Halley's, now some 65 million miles from earth, can be seen, however, with a little help from a air 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...