WHETHER or not a portent of doom, the Hale Bopp comet chose last night to show itself in its fullest glory, flagging a tail millions of miles long in ideal viewing conditions.
Weather conditions were clear, dry and cool, allowing perfect visibility of the frozen mass of ice, space dust and gases whizzing close by the third planet from the sun during March and April.
Met Eireann made a brief incursion into astronomy by mentioning the celestial body in last night's forecast on RTE but declined to draw any conclusions for its long range outlook is clearly visible in Dublin at the moment. Anyone with normal eyesight will be able to see it," a spokesman said.
However, weather conditions are changeable this week, making it unlikely that Hale Bopp will look as good again for another few millennia. "Hale Bopp needs 4,200 years to complete its orbit about the sun while the last planet, Pluto, only needs 250 years," according to a statement from Dunsink Observatory.
Last night's viewers of the north westerly sky where treated to "a diffuse halo and tails of gas and dust that trail behind".
But over the next few days cloud and "a few rainbelts" will put paid to the full enjoyment of hundreds of amateur stargazers.