Comets are icy dust balls that orbit the
Sun in
highly parabolic
orbits. It is believed they
originate from the
Oort cloud, a large spherical
shell of residual
solar system debris that
orbits the
Sun at a large distance from the
Sun.
There are "periodic" comets that appear in a
predictable manner - like Haley's
Comet - and
sometimes a
comet will be discovered by an
amateur astronomer. Throughout history, depictions
of
comets visible with the un-aided eye have been
recorded and within the past 10 years there have
been two
comets that were also visible without aid -
Comet Hale-Bopp and
Comet Hyakutake.
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| Comet Hale-Bopp |
Come Hyakutake |
Larger versions of these image are available for
viewing in the
Image Gallery. These are scans of old 35mm prints - but they are mine.
Of course, a much better image of comet Hale-Bopp (from http://www.mlo.noaa.gov):
Two excellent resources to determine visibility and location of a comet (as well as a host of other events):
- Heavens-Above - an online ephemeris with a simple interface
- CalSKY - another online ephemeris with an extensive list of events
You will have to register to get specific data from your location, but the process is benign.
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