Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress

Comet Hale-Bopp (formally designated C/1995 O1) was probably the most widely observed comet of the 20th century, and one of the brightest seen for many decades. 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. Hale-Bopp was discovered on 23 July 1995 at a very large distance from the Sun, raising expectations that the comet could become very bright when it passed close to the Sun. Although comet brightnesses are very difficult to predi ...

Including:

• Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet
• Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation
• Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia and superstition
• Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia - Comet Hale-Bopp

It was soon apparent that Hale-Bopp was no ordinary comet. For a start, when its orbit was calculated, it turned out to be 7.2 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Sun, placing it between Jupiter and Saturn and by far the greatest distance from Earth at which a comet had been discovered. Most comets at this distance are extremely faint, and show no discernable activity, but Hale-Bopp already had an observable coma. An image taken at the Anglo-Australian Telescope in 1993 was found to show the then-undiscovered comet some 13 AU from the sun, ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia and superstition, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress

It was soon apparent that Hale-Bopp was no ordinary comet. For a start, when its orbit was calculated, it turned out to be 7.2 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Sun, placing it between Jupiter and Saturn and by far the greatest distance from Earth at which a comet had been discovered. Most comets at this distance are extremely faint, and show no discernable activity, but Hale-Bopp already had an observable coma. An image taken at the Anglo-Australian Telescope in 1993 was found to show the then-undiscovered comet some 13 AU from the sun, ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia superstition and beliefs, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress

Comet Hale-Bopp was observed intensively by astronomers during its perihelion passage, and several important advances in cometary science resulted from these observations. Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail. One of the most remarkable discoveries was that the comet had a third type of tail. In addition to the well-known gas and dust tails, Hale-Bopp also exhibited a faint sodium tail, only visible with powerful instruments with dedicated filters. Sodium emission had been previously observed in other comets, but ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia and superstition, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results

Comet Hale-Bopp was observed intensively by astronomers during its perihelion passage, and several important advances in cometary science resulted from these observations. Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail. One of the most remarkable discoveries was that the comet had a third type of tail. In addition to the well-known gas and dust tails, Hale-Bopp also exhibited a faint sodium tail, only visible with powerful instruments with dedicated filters. Sodium emission had been previously observed in other comets, but ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia superstition and beliefs, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results

Hale-Bopp became visible to the naked eye in the summer of 1996, and although its rate of brightening slowed considerably during the latter half on 1996, scientists were still cautiously optimistic that it would become very bright. It was too close to the Sun to be observable during December 1996, but when it reappeared in January 1997 it was already bright enough to be seen by anyone who looked for it, even from large cities with light-polluted skies. The Internet was a growing phenomenon at the time, and numerous websites that track ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia superstition and beliefs, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet

After its perihelion passage, the comet moved into the southern celestial hemisphere, and its show was over as far as most of the public were concerned. The comet was much less impressive to Southern Hemisphere observers than it had been in the Northern Hemisphere, but southerners were able to see the comet gradually fade from view during the summer and autumn of 1997. The last naked-eye observations were reported in December 1997, which meant that the comet had remained visible without aid for 569 days, or about 18 and a half months. The previous record had been set by the Great Comet of 1811, w ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia superstition and beliefs, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes

In many cultures, comets have historically been viewed as bad omens and viewed with great suspicion. Perhaps because of the very long build-up to Hale-Bopp's passage, and its rare size and activity, the comet became the subject of many bizarre beliefs and theories. An Arutz-7 correspondent noted that according to the ancient Jewish text Seder Olam Rabah, the comet's previous appearance was approxim ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia superstition and beliefs, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia superstition and beliefs

The comet was discovered by two independent observers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, both in the United States. Hale had spent many hundreds of hours searching for comets without finding one, and was tracking known comets from his driveway in New Mexico when he chanced upon Hale-Bopp, shining at 11th magnitude near a globular cluster, M70, in the constellation of Sagittarius just after midnight. Hale first established that there was no other deep-sky object near M70, and then consulted a directory of known comets, finding that no known obj ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia and superstition, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery

Hale-Bopp became visible to the naked eye in the summer of 1996, and although its rate of brightening slowed considerably during the latter half on 1996, scientists were still cautiously optimistic that it would become very bright. It was too close to the Sun to be observable during December 1996, but when it reappeared in January 1997 it was already bright enough to be seen by anyone who looked for it, even from large cities with light-polluted skies. The Internet was a growing phenomenon at the time, and numerous websites that track ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia and superstition, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet

After its perihelion passage, the comet moved into the southern celestial hemisphere, and its show was over as far as most of the public were concerned. The comet was much less impressive to Southern Hemisphere observers than it had been in the Northern Hemisphere, but southerners were able to see the comet gradually fade from view during the summer and autumn of 1997. The last naked-eye observations were reported in December 1997, which meant that the comet had remained visible without aid for 569 days, or about 18 and a half months. The previous record had been set by the Great Comet of 1811, w ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia and superstition, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes

In many cultures, comets have historically been viewed as bad omens and viewed with great suspicion. Perhaps because of the very long build-up to Hale-Bopp's passage, and its rare size and activity, the comet became the subject of many bizarre beliefs and theories. In November 1996, amateur astronomer Chuck Shramek of Houston, Texas took a CCD image of the comet, which showed a fuzzy, slightly elongated object nearby. When his computer sky-viewing program did not identify the star, Shramek called the Art Bell radio program to announce ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia and superstition, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia and superstition

The comet was discovered by two independent observers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, both in the United States. Hale had spent many hundreds of hours searching for comets without finding one, and was tracking known comets from his driveway in New Mexico when he chanced upon Hale-Bopp, shining at 11th magnitude near a globular cluster, M70, in the constellation of Sagittarius just after midnight. Hale first established that there was no other deep-sky object near M70, and then consulted a directory of known comets, finding that no known obj ...

See also:

Comet Hale-Bopp, Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery, Comet Hale-Bopp - Early progress, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp becomes a Great Comet, Comet Hale-Bopp - The comet recedes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Orbital changes, Comet Hale-Bopp - Scientific results, Comet Hale-Bopp - Sodium tail, Comet Hale-Bopp - Deuterium abundance, Comet Hale-Bopp - Organic species, Comet Hale-Bopp - Rotation, Comet Hale-Bopp - A satellite?, Comet Hale-Bopp - Paranoia superstition and beliefs, Comet Hale-Bopp - Hale-Bopp's legacy

Read more here: » Comet Hale-Bopp: Encyclopedia II - Comet Hale-Bopp - Discovery