Comets are unpredictable. How bright newly discovered comets will become are difficult to predict. Sometimes they end up brighter or fainter while passing Earth even though their orbits can be accurately calculated. Comet Kohoutek was predicted to be the “Comet of the Century” as it was unusually bright far out beyond Jupiter but fizzled miserably, barely visible in the evening sky after sunset during January 1974. It barely reached magnitude +5 and most likely lost most of its primitive ices from the warmth of the Sun while it was still far out. I really looked forward to seeing it as Christmas 1973 approached, but it was never to be. Unfortunately, the next comet to come along, Comet West, was underpredicted and the media did not report it as they did not want to hype it up and risk getting burned again. Sadly many, including myself, missed out on a beautiful comet before sunrise during March 1976. Comet West was big with a beautiful tail and bright at nearly magnitude -3. Even so, the media continued to ignore it.

Earth had a close call back in May 1983 when Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock passed within 2.88 million miles, the second closest ever for a comet at the time. While that seems like a vast distance, it is quite close when a newly discovered comet comes from out of nowhere. The comet moved swiftly appearing as a huge, fuzzy puffball, dusky white and visible to the unaided eye. It was my first comet, and I was fascinated by its size, as large as the Full Moon, but so wispy and ghostly. I could see its motion among the stars within minutes, and I followed it for only two precious evenings, May 10 & 11, from near the bowl of the Big Dipper to the Beehive Cluster the next evening. Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock never developed a tail as it was viewed nearly head-on, but I was excited and wanted to see another comet. I knew Comet Hally was coming in a few years.

The “Halley Hype” ramped up during 1984. Science and astronomy magazines began to devote articles about Comet Halley peppered with advertisements for “comet telescopes” and trips to dark sky locations to view it, especially in the Southern Hemisphere where it would be at its best. This periodic comet was noted by astronomers since at least 240 BC, but it was not until 1705 that the English astronomer Edmond Halley determined that these reoccurring visits were the same comet. He predicted its return in 1758, and even though he did not live to see his prediction come true, it was named in honor of him.

I would soon be rewarded with one of my most enjoyable and memorable celestial events ever. The fun began during September 1985 when the October issue of Astronomy magazine came out. It was a fully dedicated Halley’s Comet collector’s edition and unusually thick at 144 pages when a typical issue averaged 100-110 pages. It contained the history of the comet, how to view it, how to photograph it, charts, telescopes, shirts, mementos, travel packages, and plenty of tips - it was showtime! It was still too dim for me to try to find during October, but November looked promising as it would be brighter and high up in Taurus near the Pleiades, but November weather is always gloomy and as luck would have it, November 1985 turned out to be the cloudiest month ever at the time with only 8% sunshine. I held out hope as Comet Halley was to pass below the Pleiades around November 17. I was obsessed in finding it and checked the sky every chance I had. The clouds were relentless, half of November was gone, and the forecast was gloomy. Against all odds, on November 15 at 12:20 A.M. I looked out the window and saw stars! A sucker hole! For us astronomers a sucker hole is an unexpected brief clearing in the clouds that can fool the novice into thinking the remainder of the night will be clear, but I knew better. I scrambled like crazy and dashed out into the cold night with my 60mm Tasco refracting telescope from Montgomery Ward to find it, knowing I had to act fast. I pointed my 8x40 binoculars at the Pleiades and there it was! It was 12:22 A.M. and Comet Halley was a ghostly, circular puffy smudge without a tail to the lower left of the Pleiades. The telescope revealed a stellar point where the nucleus would be with an estimated magnitude of +7.5. I was able to observe and admire it for about a half hour before clouds returned, as I knew they would. I felt excited, happy, proud, and certainly not a sucker; I told my parents and everyone at work about it. I had better weather on November 19, but that was it until December 3rd when it was seen near the Great Square of Pegasus sporting a stubby tail pointing east looking like a real comet as it steadily brightened during the holiday season. I stole ten minutes on Christmas night to see it for a genuine Christmas treat! Happy Halley Holiday! Comet Halley was seen several more times into January even when it was as cold as -7ºF. It was worth it as the tail grew longer and the comet brightened to magnitude +4.3. It was seen one final time in the evening on January 23 with the added excitement of Voyager 2 flying past Uranus the next day. Comet Halley would soon re-emerge in the morning for its best showing after its closest approach to the Sun on February 9.

It was a crystal clear, stinging-cold February 26 morning at -7ºF with rare clear skies that winter; only an insane person would go outside and stargaze. I went outside before twilight grew too bright at 5:40 A.M. and using binoculars I found Comet Halley. It was already too bright to use the telescope, but I saw it as a fuzzy star with no tail due to the bright twilight. Halley mania was at its peak during March as I drew diagrams of where to find Comet Halley, made sketches and posted them on a bulletin board in my department at work. Comet Halley remained low during March, but the best view came on March 21 when I walked out into the record cold -1ºF at 4:25 A.M. The comet was low but obvious as the tail grew to an immense length, estimated at 10º long, reaching to the handle of the Sagittarius Teapot, and glowing at magnitude +2.5. It was the classic view of a comet that I always wanted to see. I savored it for nearly an hour before twilight won out. I saw it again on March 23 as it headed below the Teapot and saw it one final time in the morning on April 1 very low in the haze. Comet Halley was too low to observe for a few weeks as it was best seen in the Southern Hemisphere passing through Centaurus as it made its closest approach to Earth on April 10 at 38.8 million miles.

It was time to bid farewell to the celestial event that I could not wait to see. I knew Comet Halley would fade from view. I did not know what date that would be, but I knew June would be a long shot. I took advantage of every clear evening making sure my parents saw it since it was at a convenient time - evening and springtime with no more stinging cold. I recovered Comet Halley on April 18 at 10:10 P.M. in the same area of the sky as during April 1, the southeast, but higher up and below Corvus instead of Scorpius. The moonlight diminished the tail, now pointed to the upper left instead of upper right, but remained bright at magnitude +2.9. A string of four clear evenings during the end of April made it fun to follow the path of Comet Halley through the small constellation of Crater. The departure was graceful as it grew higher each evening with the tail shrinking, but still a glorious sight. I followed it five more times during May before the brightening Moon returned, watching it shrink and fade, as it headed for the constellation Sextans. I made note on May 12 that the comet was easy to find with a short tail appearing almost like it did in early December and was 109.9 million miles away with a magnitude of +6.9 and 29º above the horizon. It was 10:30 P.M. when I gave it my final look of the night not knowing that I would never see it again. A string of relentless gloomy weather and a bright Moon hampered viewing until June 2 when it was finally clear enough. I tried very carefully to find it for nearly an hour using all the tricks: binoculars, telescope using varying powers, averted vision, all with no luck. It was to be near a parallelogram grouping of stars in Sextans the next night for an easier find and it was clear again. I tried all my tricks pushing my skills to the limit again with no luck. Comet Halley was gone.

My final view of Comet Halley is logged at 10:30 P.M. on May 12, 1986. I observed it on 26 occasions between November 15, 1985 – May 12, 1986. I experienced it on subzero mornings and balmy evenings, staying up past midnight and waking up at 4 A.M. Comet Halley was a rewarding comet as I shared my experience with everyone, I made a treasured book of all my sketches, diagrams, notes, and impressions. I may never see Comet Halley again as it will next be at its best on August 4, 2061, when I will be 101, but a sticker on my prized sketchbook states it perfectly: “I’m Just Like Halley’s Comet, A Once in a Lifetime Experience!”