IMPOSING COMETS

SEKI-LINES (1962)

Initially visible from the southern hemisphere, Seki-Lines

brightened rapidly as it approached perihelion on April 1.

It was the brightest comet that year and one of the

brightest of the last century.

AREND–ROLAND (1956)

Visible only from the southern hemisphere during the first half

of April, Arend–Roland was discovered on November 8, 1956,

by Belgian astronomers Sylvain Arend and Georges Roland on

photographic plates. As the eighth comet found in 1956, it

was named Arend–Roland 1956 after its discoverers.

ECLIPSE COMET (1948)

The Eclipse Comet of 1948 was an exceptionally bright comet

discovered during a solar eclipse on November 1, 1948.

Although there have been many comets that have been

seen during solar eclipses, the Eclipse Comet of 1948

is considered the best known.

VISCARA (1901)

The Great Comet of 1901, sometimes known as Comet Viscara,

was a comet that became bright in spring of that year.

Visible exclusively from the southern hemisphere, it was

discovered on the morning of April 12, as a naked-eye

object of second magnitude with a short tail.

MCNAUGHT (2007)

Comet McNaught, also known as the Great Comet of 2007, is a

non-periodic comet discovered on August 7, 2006, by

British-Australian astronomer Robert H. McNaught using the

Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope. It was the brightest

comet in over forty years and was easily visible to the

naked eye for observers in the southern hemisphere in

January and February 2007.

HYAKUTAKE (1996)

Comet Hyakutake is a comet discovered on January 31, 1996, that

passed very close to Earth in March of that year. It was dubbed

“the Great Comet of 1996,” and its passage near Earth was

one of the closest approaches of the previous two hundred years.

WEST (1976)

Comet West was a breath taking and eye-catching comet,

sometimes considered to qualify for the status of “great comet.”

IKEYA-SEKI (1965)

Also known as the “great twentieth-century comet,” this

showstopper was the brightest comet of the previous century,

visible in full daylight within a few degrees of the sun.

According to Japanese observers it appeared to be about

ten times brighter than a full moon.