I went to Hawaii in March 1997 when Comet Hale-Bopp was brightly
shining. It was an unforgettable experience. Hale-Bopp shining over Honolulu
in morning twilight was impressive, but the Southern Cross I saw out of
the window on the right-hand during a night flight to Hawaii was magnificent.
The Milky Way around Scorpius and Sagittarius was very beautiful. As the
air was stable, the plane was completely still. I pressed my camera to
the window and made a 10-second exposure in Bulb mode. The star image was
not blurred at all. It would be unthinkable to be able to photograph a
starry sky from an airplane and the photos taken that way were as good
as ones taken on a tripod on the ground. When we were approaching Hawaii
close to the daybreak, Comet Hale-Bopp must have been seen brightly shining
out the left-side window. Some passengers must have seen this because I
heard a stir. The comet was at its brightest around that time shining at
first magnitude with a tail a few degrees long. I regret I didn't ask a
flight attendant to allow me to move to the left-hand window where the
comet must have been clearly seen.
Around that time Comet Hale-Bopp was in the news in a big
way and perhaps because of it they showed us an in-flight movie related
to astronomy. Images of Halley's Comet and Ikeya-Seki appeared in the movie
probably for comparison and brought back my fond memories. The image of
Ikeya-Seki in the movie was made at the time when the comet's tail was
the longest soon after its perihelion passage. The huge comet arching over
the nightscape of the city of Johannesburg. September 19 of 1965 was the
day of my miraculous meeting with the comet. It was also a great encounter
in my life. The happy memories of Comet Ikeya-Seki were lingering in my
mind for some time.
One of the largest happenings related to Halley's Comet was
my trip to Bali to see Halley's Comet. Air France operated a "Halley's
Comet Flight", a special event to mark the appearance of the comet.
We stayed on the island of Bali for 6 days and saw the Southern Cross for
the first time in my life. Every night a colourful lively show was held
at the hotel, but at the first night I sneaked out of the hotel and walked
to the beach next to the hotel's garden. The sea was dark and the sound
of waves was heard faintly. The Southern Cross I wanted to see was now
visible through the leaves of the palm trees. It looked magnificent. I
remembered that I had learned of the Southern Cross reading Minetaro Yamanaka's
adventure novel "Under the Southern Cross", when I was an elementary
school student. I just had an encounter with this constellation I had dreamed
of over many decades since then.
Around that time Halley's Comet was very difficult to see,
as it was in twilight with a waning moon in the sky. The comet looked small
and moving gradually through the southern Milky Way toward the Southern
Cross. I wondered if people had ever seen Halley's Comet shining together
with the Southern Cross.
Loud lively shows were held every night. On one night three
enka (traditional Japanese popular songs) singers appeared on the stage
with guitars hanging from their necks and said, "We are going to sing
Japanese songs for Japanese guests." They began singing together "Hamachidori"
(plovers) written by Ryutaro Hirota. What a coincidence! Hirota is a composer
born in Aki city in Kochi prefecture.
On the shore under a bluish moonlight
A little plover is crying looking for its parents
It came from a land somewhere over the waves
Its wet wings are glittering in silver
On a full-moon night the sea near Kotogahama beach is seen
to the south from the observatory. It is glittering in a golden color and
creates a dream-like world. The plovers's cries sound like coming over
the waves.
Returning to the hotel at Bali, I looked up at Sirius directly
overhead from the garden. There is no simple way to describe its huge light.
It looked like a green bright light bulb hung over the garden. Canopus
40 degrees lower in the south was a large bluish light, too. On the island
we spent more than half of our time doing the sights, seeing the indigenous
people's festivals, looking at or buying their handcrafts, and visiting
a famous shrine. In the mountains we were hit by an extraordinary squall
and saw a lake created by a magnificent volcano near the airport. These
left us a great impression, too.
Our return flight we had the same chartered plane "Halley's Comet" and received great passenger services not expected on usual flights. To our surprise, the pilot invited us into the cockpit. We passed over the infinitely stretching jungles of Sumatra and then headed toward Japan flying over the southern Pacific whose northern horizon appeared curved. Under us we saw the emerald green ocean and nameless little islands appearing and disappearing. It was quite an impressive view. They might be coral islands. It was the battle fields during the World War. When I was an elementary school student, a man in our neighborhood flew in a suicide mission. He joined the special air corps as a naval pilot preparatory school student and left to the southern battle fields with awfully inadequate training. His plane was attacked and forced to land on an isolated island in the southern sea, but he was miraculously rescued after the war ended. When I was looking at these small islands coming in and out of view one after another, the memories of the events in the distant past were freshly brought back to my mind as if they had happened just yesterday.
It is a peaceful time today. Helley's Comet left us on the
ground various romance. Watching the infinite expanse of the South Pacific,
I realized I was singing a song to myself quietly.
"In Praise of Halley's Comet"
Written by Tsutomu Seki
Music by Takeo Suzuki
1. Oh, Halley's Comet shining in a night sky
From the world of the distant past
it keeps on flying toward the future
Halley's Comet
Together with man's history
it continues a 2000-year-long journey
Brave Halley's Comet
2. Oh, Halley's Comet, you are like an angel
Once called as a star of bad omen
it is now called a symbol of peace
and shines in a night sky
You bring this world cultures
and expand our dream of reaching for the Universe
Promising Halley's Comet
"In Praise of Halley's Comet" was first performed
at Ito city in 1985. Mr. Suzuki continues to sing this song even after
Halley's Comet left us.
Mr. Suzuki and I singing "In Praise of Halley's Comet"
(At Ito city)
