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Halley's Comet

Author:      ronald s reil
I have a student who asked how long the tail of Halley's Comet was at the
time of its closest approach to the Sun during its 1985-1986 visit.  I have 
searched without success for the answer.  Any help would be greatly appreci-
ated.

Response #:  1 of 1 
Author:      hawley
Sorry, I do not know the answer specifically for Halley's 1985 apparition,
but in general comet tails can be as long as 1 AU.  (an Astronomical Unit,
AU, is the distance from the Earth to the Sun, 92 million miles)

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