A Farewell to Tails

Explanation: As 1997 fades, so does the Great Comet of 1997: Comet Hale-Bopp . Discovered even before the Great Comet of 1996 , Comet Hale-Bopp became the brightest comet since 1976 . Many will remember Comet Hale-Bopp as a comet with a coma so bright it could be seen by eye even when near the Moon . Others will remember spectacular photographs that appeared in magazines and on the web. Amateurs, inspired by the beauty of the comet , took most of these photographs. In particular, today APOD salutes Wally Pacholka, who took the above famous photograph. Mr. Pacholka reports that he repeatedly drove 150 miles to a national park , stayed up half the night, and took hundreds of photos while carefully waving a flashlight to momentarily illuminate the foreground. His equipment consisted only of a standard 35-mm camera which, for pointing accuracy, he piggybacked on a telescope bought at age 12 with money earned from a paper route.