Comet Hale–Bopp is a long-period comet that was one of the most widely observed of the 20th century and one of the brightest seen for many decades.
Edward James Stone FRS FRAS was an English astronomer.
Comet Ikeya–Seki, formally designated C/1965 S1, 1965 VIII, and 1965f, was a long-period comet discovered independently by Kaoru Ikeya and Tsutomu Seki. First observed as a faint telescopic object on September 18, 1965, the first calculations of its orbit suggested that on October 21, it would pass just 450,000 km (280,000 mi) above the Sun's surface, and would probably become extremely bright.
A sungrazing comet is a comet that passes extremely close to the Sun at perihelion – sometimes within a few thousand kilometres of the Sun's surface. Although small sungrazers can completely evaporate during such a close approach to the Sun, larger sungrazers can survive many perihelion passages. However, the strong evaporation and tidal forces they experience often lead to their fragmentation.
The Great Comet of 1843, formally designated C/1843 D1 and 1843 I, was a long-period comet which became very bright in March 1843. It was discovered on February 5, 1843, and rapidly brightened to become a great comet. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets resulting from the breakup of a parent comet into multiple fragments in about 1106. These comets pass extremely close to the surface of the Sun—within a few solar radii—and often become very bright as a result.
The Great Comet of 1882 formally designated C/1882 R1, 1882 II, and 1882b, was a comet which became very bright in September 1882. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets which pass within 1 R☉ of the Sun's photosphere at perihelion. The comet was bright enough to be visible next to the Sun in the daytime sky at its perihelion. The comet made its closest approach to Earth on 16 September 1882 at 0.99 AU and then came to perihelion the next day on 17 September.
The Kreutz sungrazers are a family of sungrazing comets, characterized by orbits taking them extremely close to the Sun at perihelion. At the far extreme of their orbits, aphelion, Kreutz sungrazers can be a hundred times farther from the Sun than the Earth is, while their distance of closest approach can be less than twice the Sun's radius. They are believed to be fragments of one large comet that broke up several centuries ago and are named for German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz, who first demonstrated that they were related. These sungrazers make their way from the distant outer Solar System to the inner Solar System, to their perihelion point near the Sun, and then leave the inner Solar System in their return trip to their aphelion.
Heinrich Carl Friedrich Kreutz was a German astronomer, most notable for his studies of the orbits of several sungrazing comets, which revealed that they were all related objects, produced when a very large Sun-grazing comet fragmented several hundred years previously. The group is now known as the Kreutz Sungrazers, and has produced some of the brightest comets ever seen, including X/1106 C1 and Comet Ikeya–Seki. The source of the group may have been the Great Comet of 371 BC.
Comet White–Ortiz–Bolelli was a bright comet which appeared in 1970. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets which resulted from the break-up of a large parent comet several centuries ago. It was already easily visible to the naked eye when first discovered, and reached a maximum apparent magnitude of +1.
Comet Pereyra was a bright comet that appeared in 1963. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a group of comets that pass extremely close to the Sun.
Comet 96P/Machholz or 96P/Machholz 1 is a short-period sungrazing comet discovered on May 12, 1986, by amateur astronomer Donald Machholz on Loma Prieta peak, in central California using 130 millimetres (5.1 in) binoculars. On June 6, 1986, 96P/Machholz passed 0.404 AU from the Earth. 96P/Machholz last came to perihelion on January 31, 2023. The comet has an estimated diameter of around 6.4 km (4.0 mi).
X/1106 C1, also known as the Great Comet of 1106, was a great comet that appeared on 2 February 1106, and was observed around the world from the beginning of February through to mid-March. It was recorded by astronomers in Wales, England, Japan, Korea, China, Continental Europe, and Egypt. It was observed to split into many pieces, forming the Great Comet of 1882 and Comet Ikeya–Seki as well as over 4000 small sungrazing comets observed by the SOHO space telescope. It is a member of the Kreutz Group, known as Subfragment I, a split from an earlier large (~150 km) comet that progressively fragmented under the influence of the Sun, possibly the Great Comet of 371 BC.
3635 Kreutz, provisional designation 1981 WO1, is a slowly rotating Hungaria asteroid and Mars-crosser from the innermost regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 21 November 1981, by Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek at the Calar Alto Observatory in southern Spain.
A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Wednesday, May 17, 1882, with a magnitude of 1.0200. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 4.2 days after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger.
X/1872 X1, occasionally referred to as "Pogson's Comet", was a probable cometary astronomical object seen from Madras on December 3 and 4, 1872, by astronomer N. R. Pogson.
The Great Southern Comet of 1887, or C/1887 B1 using its International Astronomical Union (IAU) designation, was a bright comet seen from the Southern Hemisphere during January 1887. Later calculations indicated it to be part of the Kreutz Sungrazing group. It came to perihelion on 11 January 1877 at a distance of 0.00483 AU (723 thousand km) with a velocity of 606.1 km/s. Since the Sun has a radius of 696000 km, the comet passed about 27000 km from the surface of the Sun.
Professor Charles Michie Smith CIE FRSE FRAS was a Scottish astronomer. He founded the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory in the mountains of south India and served as its first director.
The Great Comet of 372–371 BC was a comet that is thought to possibly be the source of the Kreutz sungrazer family.
