The Great Comet of 1997

Who remembers Hale-Bopp? You know, that big bright thing in the sky that cruised by 'bout 10 years ago. Oh man, what a 'beaut!

The Hale-Bopp comet was dubbed the "Great Comet of 1997" because it exceeded the predicted brightness estimated by astronomers. It was visible to the naked-eye for about 18 months. It was discovered in July of 1995 by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp. As some of you may remember, certain people believed that their was an extraterrestrial spacecraft following the comet. This inspired the mass suicide of the Heaven's Gate cult (I almost joined).

Bopp did not own a telescope but discovered the irregular object through the eyepiece of his friends telescope. The comet became visible to the naked-eye in May of 1996. Hale-Bopp most likely made its last appearance about 4,200 years ago. Close approaches to Earth is rare because for Hale-Bopp because the orbit is almost perpendicular.

The most interesting scientific discovery that resulted from Hale-Bopp's passing was the result of the compositional analysis of the comets tail. On top of gas and dust, the comet had a third tail made up of sodium which extended about 50 million kilometers.