Word: halley
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...thousands of miles across, is the comet's head, the light-reflecting shroud that turns an otherwise insignificant iceberg into a brilliant object. Just how brilliant depends on many factors. The solid comet's size is one, and Hale-Bopp, an estimated 20 miles across, is bigger than most. (Halley's was less than half as large.) Its history is another. Out in deep space, a comet can get encrusted with a layer of gummy dust. This layer can seal in most of the ice and prevent it from vaporizing. Some gas may spurt out through cracks in the crust...
...astronomer from Harvard, then a tiny school in the wilderness of the New World, sent his observations of what would later be called Halley's comet to Isaac Newton. Newton used this data from Harvard in his Principia, beginning a long tradition of astronomical excellence at the New England school, including the attendance of Edwin Hubble, the most famous astronomer of the 20th century...
...WORD KOHOUTEK, AND MOST astronomers wince. Back in 1973 there were predictions that the comet of that name might be the brightest of the century. It turned out to be a total dud. Halley's comet was just as heavily overhyped 12 years later; that time around, at least, history's most celebrated comet was dim and unimpressive...
That makes it the closest comet since 1983 and gives it a leg up on visibility (Halley's came no nearer than 39 million miles). Better yet, Hyakutake's trajectory will place it high in the northern sky when it reaches peak brightness this week, so that it will be visible for most of the night over most of the northern hemisphere...
Amidst the intensity of Camp's performance, some of the minor characters are obscured. The traitorous trio of Cambridge (Michael Janes), Scroop (Randall Jaynes) and Grey (James Framer) seem particularly flimsy. For the most part, supporting performances are strong. The clown Pistol (Ben Halley) and the wimp Fluellen (Thomas Derrah) are able to grab the audience's attention. Lenore Chaix, as Princess Katherine of France, is as voluptuous, coy and well, French, as any king could hope...