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The Planetary Report • April/May 1981
Comet West
On the Cover: On its return in 1986, Comet Halley will appear similar to Comet West, seen in this photograph taken in 1976. The thirty-million-mile-long dust tail of Comet West dominates this image, while its blue gas tail glows faintly. Due to its position as it moves through the inner solar system, the apparition of Comet Halley will not be as spectacular as it has been in the past, and will best be seen from the Earth's southern hemisphere.
Features
4 The Halley Swarm: Jacques Blamont looks at Comet Halley's course and our investigations of it.
6 Saturn: Acclaimed author Diane Ackerman shares a poem about the ringed planet.
13 Weather on Jupiter: Garry E. Hunt talks Jovian weather systems.
Departments
10 Washington Watch The NASA FY 1982 budget and the future of Galileo and the Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (VOIR) missions.
11 Letter to the House Subcomitee in Charge of NASA Authorization for the Planetary Program Carl Sagan fights to save VOIR and Galileo.
12 News & Reviews Mount St. Helens and Mars; new publications
14 Society Notes Who is The Planetary Society?
The Planetary Report • April/May 1981
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