Portal:Astronomy/Picture/Week 31 2006

Comet Hale–Bopp broke many records when it appeared in 1995, some two years before its perihelion date. It lay beyond the orbit of Jupiter when it was found, a record distance for a cometary discovery. It became a great comet during April and May 1997, being brighter than apparent magnitude 0 for eight weeks, and was visible to the naked eye for 18 months – twice as long as any previously observed comet.