The parade of headlights was endless. In a scene reminiscent of the last camera shot in Field of Dreams, car after car began pouring into the Indian Lake parking area soon after dark. The line stretched back to the highway and spilled out into both lanes of traffic. They came by the hundreds hoping to see a comet.

Comet Hyakutake played to its second packed house in as many nights as the Madison Astronomical Society (MAS) hosted a comet Hyakutake observing party at Indian Lake County Park. Hyakutake did not disappoint. The sketch at left is based on the naked eye view. The comet's tail can be traced from the head near Polaris, the North Star, through the Big Dipper, Canes Venatici and into Coma Berenices -- nearly 70 degrees! Binocular views reveal tangles of wispy tendrils within the plasma tail and a maturing dust tail. Telescopic views reveal a multi-segmented nuclear region, bow shocks, and a bright jet pumping dust and gas into the tails.

If Hale-Bopp is anything like this, 1997 will be a very good year.