Although Hale-Bopp is still visible, it is fading fast and for all practical purposes comet season is over in Southern California. More than 80,000 persons saw Hale-Bopp through a telescope at Griffith Observatory.
Before the new volunteer spirit was unveiled nationally, members of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and of the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers made a telescope forest out of the observatory front lawn. Thanks to them and the support of Friends of the Observatory, more people saw Hale-Bopp at Griffith Observatory than anywhere else on the planet.
