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hale-bopp

A Look Back at Comet Hale-Bopp

March 27, 2020 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) after sunset near the constellation Cassiopeia on March 27, 1997, three days after its closest approach to Earth (Credit: Brian Ventrudo)

At any particular time, a half-dozen or more comets are visible with a good-sized amateur telescope. But a bright comet is a once-in-a-decade event at best, and a Great Comet, one that grows bright enough to capture wide attention, is rarer still.  Recently there have been two Great Comets visible to observers in the southern hemisphere, Comet McNaught in 2007 and Comet Lovejoy in 2011. But it’s been a long drought for stargazers in the northern hemisphere, where no spectacular comet has been seen since 1997 when the mighty Comet C/1995 O1, better known as Comet Hale-Bopp, barreled in from the outer solar system and put on one of the most watched celestial shows in modern history [Read more…] about A Look Back at Comet Hale-Bopp

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Filed Under: Solar System comet, hale-bopp, solar system

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