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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.
Comet Hale–Bopp (formally designated C/1995 O1) is a long-period comet that was one of the most widely observed of the 20th century and one of the brightest seen for many decades. [10] [11] [12] Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp discovered Comet Hale–Bopp separately on July 23, 1995, before it became visible to the naked eye.
It was the brightest comet in over 40 years, and was easily visible to the naked eye for observers in the Southern Hemisphere in January and February 2007. With an estimated peak magnitude of −5.5, the comet was the second-brightest since 1935. [6] Around perihelion on 12 January, it was visible worldwide in broad daylight. Its tail measured ...
The comet’s lucky lighting meant that it was the second brightest comet ever seen. “We knew this comet was going to be bright, but the extremely fortuitous viewing geometry here has led to a ...
Comet Hyakutake's trajectory through the inner solar system, with a high inclination, passed closest to the Earth in late March 1996, passing over Earth's north pole. It was at perihelion on May 1. When the first calculations of the comet's orbit were made, scientists realized that it was going to pass just 0.1 AU from Earth on 25 March. [12]
4/5 After a decade of anticipation, the much talked-about musical arrives in London
Neowise, which is named after the space telescope used to discover it, is also the brightest comet to appear in 23 years (the last was Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997).
The comet made its closest approach to Earth on 16 September 1882 at 0.99 AU and then came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) the next day on 17 September. [11] Reaching a peak magnitude of –17, some sources claim that C/1882 R1 is the brightest comet ever recorded in history.