Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Vickie and Alan.

I am saddened to report the passing of my dear friend, Alan Hale – an astronomer that made us all look up and ponder about a visitor from afar – the noted Hale Bopp comet. That object was one of the most widely observed space intruders of the 20th century.

When it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997, reaching about magnitude −1.8, its massive nucleus size made it visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months.

From Vickie Stone Moseley Hale in Cloudcroft, New Mexico: “Today the love my life, Father, Grandfather, Astronomer, Comet discoverer, passed away in his home. I am heart broken.”

I will always remember Alan Hale in an interview telling me, after first seeing the object late night, something like, “and then I took my life in my hands and woke up my wife,” inviting her to his telescope’s eye piece to marvel at what he observed.

I’ll miss you Alan, but now you are among the stars, planets, and other objects that you loved to keep an eye on.

Leonard