[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Don’t forget Hale-Bopp, an unexpectedly bright comet. Astronomers did not expect the 1986 apparition of Comet Halley to be notable. In 1910, the Earth passed through the tail of Halley’s comet, so the comet and its tail literally filled the sky. Light polution was much less of an issue than in 1986, as well.

ISON could be in the Hale-Bopp category. Halley owes it fame to two causes. First the 1910 apparition which firmly established it popular lore. My grandparents were between 10 and 17 when it appeared. In 1986, the previous apparition was in the living memory of literally millions of people. Second, Edmund Halley predicted its appearance in 1758, after studing earlier observations of comets, and applying Newton’s Laws. The reappearance of Halley’s Comet in 1758 was one of the great early successes of Newtonian mechanics.

[painter]

In 1910, the Earth passed through the tail of Halley’s comet, so the comet and its tail literally filled the sky.

My grandpaw talked about that. He was a teenager at that time,he said you could see it during the day.