 At the time of the 1986 return (technically, "apparition") of the comet, astronomical telescopes and related instrumentation were vastly more sensitive than for any previous apparition.Consequently, the International Halley Watch (IHW) was organized to stimulate, standardize, collect, and archive observations of the comet.The initial plans were formulated by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where a Lead Center for western hemisphere observations was established with support from NASA; a corresponding Center for eastern hemisphere observations was funded by the Federal Republic of Germany at the Remeis Observatory (code 521) in Bamberg.