C O M E T S
Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the Sun. When frozen, they are the size of a small town. When a comet's orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head larger than most planets.
The most famous Comets are : Halley's Comets and Comet Hale
- H A L L E Y ' S - C O M E T
- C O M E T - H A L E - B O P P
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–76 years. Halley last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061.
Perihelion: 0.586 AU; (last perihelion)
Discovered by: Prehistoric observation
Discovery date: 1758 (first predicted perihelion)
Orbital period: 75.32 yr
Hale–Bopp was discovered on July 23, 1995, separately by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp prior to it becoming naked-eye visible on Earth. Although predicting the maximum apparent brightness of new comets with any degree of certainty is difficult, Hale–Bopp met or exceeded most predictions when it passed perihelion on April 1, 1997. It was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, twice as long as the previous record holder, the Great Comet of 1811. Accordingly, Hale–Bopp was dubbed the Great Comet of 1997.