I'm VERY happy to say that I did see comet West, and it was absolutely spectacular. I've never seen another comet to equal it, or even approach it, really. There have been technically brighter comets, but they set while still in a bright sky; and a longer comet- but it was tenuously dim. What about Hale-Bopp, you ask? Meh. Not even close. A cute little thing, though. While there were "gatherings" at Little Mountain to see West, none of them ever could be considered "crowds", at least the ones I was part of. And Patrick is 100% correct in stating that the fizzle of Kohoutek was to blame for the lack of publicity for West. On Wed, Dec 24, 2008 at 11:21 PM, Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com>wrote:
One of the best comets of the 20th century and few people saw it. In fact, I know of a SLAS member or two (who may announce themselves if they wish but I wont mention names <g>) who were active amateur astronomers at the time but never saw West.