Space & the universe

The comet two amateurs found, and the cult that followed it

Hale cBopp stayed visible to the unaided eye for eighteen months c twice the previous record, set in 1811 c which meant an entire year and a half of people looking up at the same object. It was found by two observers working separately, before it was bright enough to see without a telescope, and it then outperformed nearly every brightness prediction astronomers made for it. The story is a good illustration of how badly comets resist forecasting: nobody knew what they had until it arrived.

Hale cBopp remained visible to the naked eye for about 18 months, doubling the record held by the Great Comet of 1811.

Read the whole of Comet Hale–Bopp on Wikipedia

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