| MISSION_DESCRIPTION |
Mission Overview
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The International Halley Watch (IHW) grew out of a National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sponsored study
in 1979-80 (Brand, J.B., Newburn R., Friedman, L., 1980).
The premise behind that study was that some form of
cooperation among the astronomers and space scientists of
the world would be necessary to make the most of the
opportunity to study Comet Halley. In 1980 NASA organized a
Lead Center for the western hemisphere at JPL under Ray
Newburn. A similar facility for the eastern hemisphere was
organized at Dr. Remeis Sternwarte, Bamberg, under Juergen
Rahe with the support of the government of the Federal
Republic of Germany. Newburn and Rahe elaborated upon the
plans of the original study group, which suggested
appointment of specialists to set up networks of observers
in each of the major observing disciplines, establishment of
an international oversight committee, coordination with the
planned space projects, and cooperation with amateur
observers.
In 1981 a Steering Group of 22 scientists
residents from 12 countries was appointed by NASA to help
establish the other parts of the IHW and to advise on its
operation. Later this international group became independent
of NASA, elected its own chairman, and added and/or replaced
members as it felt necessary. The Steering Group selected
Discipline Specialists based on formal proposals submitted
in response to a NASA letter, mailed worldwide, seeking
cometary scientists to organize the observing networks,
coordinate their activity, and later to assist in archiving
the resulting data. By the time of the 1982 IAU meeting a
complete administrative organization was in existence,
awaiting its acceptance and imprimatur by that worldwide
group.
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| MISSION_OBJECTIVES_SUMMARY |
The NASA study suggested that the goals of the IHW should be
the following: advocacy, coordination, standardization, and
an archive of all the data. Indeed the archive was not to
replace the normal interpretation and publication in
technical journals. Rather it was to complement those
publications by establishing a comprehensive database
suitable for further studies requiring reduced but
uninterpreted data from observers.
The Archive of Periodic Comet Halley has been
completed in a CD-ROM or digital version. The comet's
reduced observations belong to one of the following
disciplines or networks:
1. Astrometry.
2. Infrared Studies.
3. Large-Scale Phenomena.
4. Near Nucleus Studies.
5. Photometry and Polarimetry.
6. Radio Studies.
7. Spectroscopy and Spectrophotometry.
8. Amateur Observations.
9. Meteor Studies
The Infrared Studies Network, the Photometry and
Polarimetry Network, the Radio Studies Network, the Amateur
Observations Network and the Meteor Studies Network are
organized into the following subnetworks:
Infrared Studies Subnetworks:
2.1. Infrared Photometry.
2.2. Infrared Polarimetry.
2.3. Infrared Spectroscopy.
2.4. Infrared Imaging.
Photometry and Polarimetry Subnetworks:
5.1. Broadband Photometry.
5.2. Narrowband Photometry.
5.3. Polarimetry.
5.4. Stokes Parameters
Radio Studies Subnetworks:
6.1. Hydroxyl Feature at 18 cm.
6.2. Spectral Line.
6.3. Continuum.
6.4. Occultation.
6.5. Radar
Amateur Observations Subnetworks:
8.1. Visual-Appearance Descriptions.
8.2. Drawings.
8.3. Photographs.
8.4. Spectroscopy
Meteor Studies Subnetworks:
9.1. Radar
9.2. Visual
The evaluation of submitted observations and
their selection for the Archive has primarily been the
responsibility of the Discipline Specialist Teams in charge
of the networks. To expound the process of evaluation,
reduction, and formatting of the database, each Discipline
Specialist Team has provided network by network, an outline
and a data-organization description of both the digital and
the printed versions of the Archive.
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