Visitor From Outer Space

When I was a little girl, I dreamed about being an astronomer. Our night sky was absolutely black and the valley was wide, and I spent countless hours outside with a telescope, learning constellations and the names of stars, watching eclipses, and being mesmerized by meteor showers. Never did a dreaming little girl have such a view of the heavens as I. During 1996 and 1997, Comet Hale-Bopp became the brightest comet of the twentieth century. At the time I was living on the Potomac River about 20 minutes south of D.C. The comet was visible to the naked eye for an astonishing 18 months, and it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997. It was the most breathtaking, amazing and eerily beautiful sight I have ever seen. I feel so honored to have lived during its passage. Hale-Bopp shone brighter than any star in the sky except Sirius, and its two tails stretched 30--40 degrees across the sky. It was visible before the sky got fully dark each night, and while many great comets are very close to the sun as they pass perihelion, Comet Hale-Bopp was visible all night in the northern hemisphere. The last naked-eye observations were reported in December 1997. Hale-Bopp will return again around the year 4377. This comet is very special to me and I spent many nights with it on the banks of the river, motionless, speechless, with tears of joy and awe running down my face. My mother had been battling cancer for three years and she died when the comet was at its brightest. I have dedicated this video to her and perhaps also to the dreaming little girl who lived in the yard so many years ago, waiting for the night visitors and imagining a world that lies just beyond the periphery. --------- I didn't take the majority of these pictures ... all magnifications are from NASA public domain ... four stills are from Phillipe Demoulin and are used with permission. ------------------ Music: 18 from '18' by Moby used with permission from mobygratis.com per gratis request # 2793. "Visitor From Outer Space" is also a featured video on MobyGratis ... http://www.youtube.com/MobyGratis ------------------