Hale-Bopp comes to our skies every 2,000 years.

This shot of Hale-Bopp close-up shows the head of the comet in greater detail and magnificence.

There are actually three photographs in the Hale-Bopp series.

In April, l986, Halley's Comet made its closest approach to our planet, so I took my cameras and telescope to the Hawaiian Islands. These photographs were taken from the summit of Haleakala Crater on the island of Maui, HI., at an altitude of 10,047 feet ASL. The equipment used as a 35mm camera, a 28-80mm zoom lens and ISO 1600 color negative film, mounted piggy-back on an 8-inch Newtonian telescope and equatorial tracking mount. The exposures were between 6 and 8 minuets at F-2.8 for the 28mm lens and F3.5 for the 80mm lens.

There are over one hundred astronomical objects in the large area of the sky that is covered in the center sections. While it is not possible to detail the whole sky, it is necessary to identify the "Kona Nebula" as the city of Kona, HI. The blurring is due to the exposure time tracking the stars. It is noteworthy that the two center photographs do overlap and together represent a very large section of the southern sky that we can't see from the northern hemisphere. We can easily see that Alpha and Beta Centauri overlap. The Southern Cross or Crux is spectacular. The Coal Sack and much nebulosity surround Crux and becomes more evident when the third image is enlarged to 16X20. The last note is that the circular black areas in the center two photos are indeed, my telescope. I only mention these items to keep confusion down

Halley's Comet comes to our skies every 76 years.

There are actually four photographs in the Halley's Comet series.

Hyakutake Comet came through our solar system in 1996; in March and April, it was visible with the unaided eye for weeks.

In season five, this Hyakutake print, 20" by 24", appears in Captain Lochley's quarters.

Hyakutake Prime Focus