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Comet Hyakutake (formally designated C/1996 B2) is a comet discovered on 31 January 1996. [1] It was dubbed the Great Comet of 1996 ; its passage to within 0.1 AU (15 Gm) of the Earth on 25 March was one of the closest cometary approaches of the previous 200 years.
Even so, quite a few comets were lost because their orbits are also affected by non-gravitational effects such as the release of gas and other material that forms the comet's coma and tail. Unlike a long-period comet, the next perihelion passage of a numbered periodic comet can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy.
The comet became very bright in the night sky, and, as a result, it was seen by a large number of people around the world. The comet temporarily upstaged the long-awaited Comet Hale-Bopp, which was approaching the inner Solar System at the time, although Hyakutake was only at its brightest for a few days. Scientific observations of the comet ...
Comet McNaught as the Great Comet of 2007. A great comet is a comet that becomes exceptionally bright. There is no official definition; often the term is attached to comets such as Halley's Comet, which during certain appearances are bright enough to be noticed by casual observers who are not looking for them, and become well known outside the astronomical community.
Hyakutake was the first comet I ever saw. Alleged to have been more impressive than Comet Hale-Bopp when it was at its brightest, it broke a 20 year drought of Great Comets, and turned up some very surprising results for cometary scientists. I've been working on this article over the last few weeks and I think it's near enough comprehensive now ...
A zoomed-in image of Comet 2022 E3 (ZTF) captured on Jan. 23, 2023. (Michael Borland) Celestial sleuths at th Comet E3 to make closest approach to Earth tonight
The nucleus is similar in size to Comet Hyakutake and many short-period comets such as 2P/Encke, 7P/Pons-Winnecke, 8P/Tuttle, 14P/Wolf, and 19P/Borrelly. [18] By July 5, NASA's Parker Solar Probe had captured an image of the comet, from which astronomers also estimated the diameter of the comet nucleus at approximately 5 km (3 mi). [19]
Appearance. move to sidebar hide. Hyakutake may refer to: Astronomy. Comet Hyakutake, a comet discovered in 1996; People Gengo Hyakutake (1882–1976), Imperial ...