Hale-Bopp
Famous nineties comet
Hale-Bopp was a comet visible to the naked eye for a record eighteen months in 1996–97, becoming one of the most widely observed comets in history.
Named after its discoverers, amateur astronomers Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp, it was notable for its brightness and distinctive double tail.
The comet gained darker associations when the Heaven's Gate cult timed their mass suicide to its closest approach to Earth.
Icy orbiting body
- nucleusCentral controlling part
- comaUnwakeable unconsciousness
- tailRear animal appendage
- orbitCurved celestial path
perihelion · dust · ion · solar system · trajectory · celestial · magnitude · brightness
Range of clear sight
- 1997Four-digit date
- night skyDarkness above after sunset
- spectacleVisually striking event
- viewingAct of watching something
binoculars · months · brilliant · memorable · public interest · media · photography · stargazers
Year before 1996
- telescopeInstrument magnifying faraway objects
- New MexicoSouthwestern U.S. state
- Arizona48th state admitted
- observationAttentive watching or remark
sighting · independently · announcement · naming · backyard · July · stargazing · finder
Fervent fringe group
- mass suicideGroup killing themselves together
- UFOUnidentified aerial craft
- conspiracyClandestine coordinated scheming
- millenniumSpan of thousand years
end times · tabloid · paranormal · spacecraft · hoax · doomsday · prophecy · pop culture
Arranged elements forming whole
- spectral analysisWavelength-based substance identification
- isotopesAtomic number twins
- volatilesEasily evaporating chemicals
- outgassingReleasing trapped gas
rotation · jets · fragmentation · Hubble · infrared · carbon monoxide · research · data
comet
Icy orbiting body
orbit · perihelion · dust · ion · solar system · trajectory · celestial · magnitude · brightness · gas
visibility
Range of clear sight
viewing · binoculars · months · brilliant · memorable · public interest · media · photography · stargazers · wonder
1995
Year before 1996
- telescopeInstrument magnifying faraway objects
- New MexicoSouthwestern U.S. state
- Arizona48th state admitted
observation · sighting · independently · announcement · naming · backyard · July · stargazing · finder
cult
Fervent fringe group
- mass suicideGroup killing themselves together
- UFOUnidentified aerial craft
- conspiracyClandestine coordinated scheming
millennium · end times · tabloid · paranormal · spacecraft · hoax · doomsday · prophecy · pop culture · nineties
composition
Arranged elements forming whole
- spectral analysisWavelength-based substance identification
- isotopesAtomic number twins
- volatilesEasily evaporating chemicals
outgassing · rotation · jets · fragmentation · Hubble · infrared · carbon monoxide · research · data · primordial
- cometscomet, Halley's Comet, comet tail, dirty snowball, West
- astronomystars, moon, sun, planet, planets
- space rocksasteroid, asteroids, meteorites, meteorite, meteors
Hale-Boppfixed star
Star showing no planetary motion
meteor · Polaris · shooting star · planet · the Moon