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[Exeligmos]

I can't decide on my favorite comet, so here are my five, in order of dates observed:

 

-- 1P/Halley - This was my first comet. Discovered in antiquity, this comet's periodicity was theorized by Edmond Halley and verified by its return in 1835, thus confirming that comets are actually objects orbiting the sun. Its dramatic return in 1910 was a sensation. Unfortunately, its 1986 return was the comet's poorest apparition in its entire 2000+ years of observation. Even though, it was still a nice comet in its own right.

 

-- C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) - If I had to pick a favorite comet, this may be it. Hyakutake was briefly a spectacle to behold. Discovered in late January, it would soon make its closest approach to Earth in March. It was fascinating to watch as it brighten to naked-eye visibility, and then rapidly increase in brightness and size each night. By late March, it passed 0.1 AU from the earth. Its appearance was truly great, the most dramatic I've seen. The 0-magnitude coma, about the size of a full moon, was near Polaris. The gossamer tail stretched about 60 degrees (40 deg. was obvious) through the Big Dipper, overhead, and then to a point near Coma Berenices in the south. It was effectively a giant sundial in the sky. As the comet headed to perihelion, it shrunk in size and brightness, but became more impressive visually. It was a wonderful sight in Perseus just before it disappeared into twilight. All of this occurred after comet Hale-Bopp was discovered in 1995 and before its perihelion in 1997.

 

-- C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) - This was the Big One seen by millions. It was the largest comet since the great one in 1811 (and perhaps it even surpassed that one). Unfortunately, it didn’t pass particularly close to the earth. (If it had passed perihelion in December instead of April, it would have been a monster!). This comet had steady and convenient visibility for a few months as it slowly tracked through the northern sky. By late March and early April, it was visible in the evening for all in the northern hemisphere. It was easily visible in urban areas and was a glorious sight under dark skies. It was even visible during the total eclipse of 1997. The comet’s clear bifurcation of gas and dust tails was distinctive among comets in recent memory. The brilliant inner coma, with its spiraling jet, was fascinating to observe in telescopes.

 

-- C/2006 P1 (McNaught) - This would have been my favorite by far if I had been in the southern hemisphere at the time. What a sight it would have been! Still, I had a decent view of it just before perihelion. At magnitude -3, it was the brightest comet I’ve seen. Even though it was deep in twilight, it was plainly visible. Many people probably mistook it for a contrail. Unfortunately, the weather and my work schedule didn’t quite cooperate for me to attempt spotting it at perihelion. Once past the sun and into southern twilight… wow! That tail was so sweeping and extensive, portions of it could still be seen from the northern hemisphere by some.

 

-- 17P/Holmes - This comet was a unique and delightful surprise, even if not unprecedented. I had written this one off, as it wasn’t due to exceed magnitude 14. But then the alert went out in October of 2007. Comet Holmes was magnitude 2 and nearly stellar. When I stepped outside, I could see a new ‘star’ in Perseus that wasn’t there before. Through the telescope, it was very compact. Over the coming days and weeks, the coma slowly expanded into a ring with a sort of double inner coma. A complex gas tail also developed. As this was due to a tremendous single outburst, the comet retained its 2nd magnitude brightness as it slowly reached to greater than a full-moon’s width. Continuing into 2008, it was still visible as it continued to fade. As a previous outburst occurred in 1892, this comet should be closely monitored during each subsequent apparition.

 

Honorable mention:

 

- C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) - This may be the most beautiful of comets I’ve been able to observe. While stunning in photos, it was a bit underwhelming visually in comparison. It was modestly visible to the naked eye, and impressive with binoculars.

[Amar A. Sharma]

Will come to it through an introductory mode first.

 

As India's leading comet devotee from 2003-2015 -- in all forms, visual observing (informal), ccd imaging (basic), obsession for visual + ccd hunting & discovering, cometary literature, further comet history, even comet hunting & discovery history, aspiring comet documentary maker, oh even astro philately in wanting comet themes up on postage stamps -- this is my take.

 

39 visual comets with mostly small apertures -- 32 from 2004 to 2010 and only 7 from 2011 to 2025 (excluding 1 with a historic Indian 1-meter professional observatory, very much by chance!)

64 comets ccd imaged (some barely registered) (all only single frames of 0.5-1-2-3 minutes and no stacks) from 2012 to 2025 -- 31 in 2012, 9 in 2013, 5 in 2015, 8 in 2024, 11 in 2025 (every single one with a mis-aligned go-to having to ccd star hop each single time).

 

That's 103 comets! Not accounting for over ~50 missed and attempted! Even when I think back, it doesn't seem to me that I could have crossed the 100 mark (because basically the visual ones are in memory as the tradition).

 

Was trying to be in all places cometary.

 

Made it in Alan Hale's 10 observers from his list:

http://www.earthrise...com_awards.html

 

And Astronomical League's Silver Comet Certificate and Pin (pg 20, first column last row, second column first row) for observing & sketching 12 comets:

https://www.astrolea...8NYAAWinner.pdf

 

This is my actual depth of work towards comet hunting history (because I was close to being a comet hunter, it was an intrinsic nature of me, but finally could not  ) so I steered towards its extensive coverage in literature, if not the sky. Summary of 20th century comet sleuthing by amateurs, published in the British Astronomical Association's Comet Section's Comet's Tale journal, pgs 16-21:

https://britastro.or...tion/tail33.pdf

 

I was that into comets in the earlier days that I even maintained a comet "slam book" -- like school kids maintain hobby detailing slam books. (Re-found this link only now through google, in fact, did not know it is there online):

http://www.historic....t_slam_book.htm

 

Between 2003 and 2012-13 I knew the name of every comet in the sky for every month of those 9-10 years.

Between 2012-13 and 2015-16 I knew the name of every amateur comet hunter-discoverer who was walking around and not -- and had even (email or letter) communicated with 95% of the surviving ones, if not counting the few dozen surviving (!) Japanese but could with only a handful of them. Even some veteran legends like Tsutomu Seki, Carolyn Shoemaker, Elizabeth Roemer, Albert Jones, Michael Hendrie, Roy Panther, William Liller, apart from the other "younger" ones of Levy's & Machholz's generation. Missed out on William Bradfield.

It was me -- what are the chances in comparison to the ones directly connected to them -- who wrote the obituaries of Jones (on SkyandTelescope web) and Bradfield (on Astronomy web).

 

For those interested, the list of comet-specific writings or compilations by me can be found here:

https://www.linkedin...s/publications/

 

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Overall, I'm like one of you, the wow factor being in the faint ones than the bright ones; the fainter, the longer the w's.

 

So, you see, I do have an eye for comets, and a deeper understanding and sensibility of it. It does not mean it is the right or perfect one; it is only a personal attachment with some insight behind it.

 

However, on this, I look at it differently and you may not co-relate with me. Like me, you may not understand why this is rated as my best.

 

I am *not* going to rank 73/P Schwassmann Wachmann-3 or 17/P Holmes, and *none* of the bright tailed ones in the past decade found by surveys (I do not even know which bright ones came by in the last 10 years). I did not get a chance to watch C/2006 P1 (McNaught) as it was below the horizon for us located relatively close to the equator; however, its tail was up above the horizon for a few days and I could not spot it (but could spot the meteors emanating from it on a sudden notice). I surmise, startling enough, even if I had spotted this one of the comets of the century, it would not have ranked in my top list. 

 

They all might be photo-candy. But not to me. As a staunchly traditional person even to this day, to me, the modern discovered bright tailed ones all lack the earlier era charm; those earlier days, 15 years prior, when visual hunting was being carried about, and you had visual comet hunters moving around, when even life was not what is today, the human touch going over the surface.

 

My most favourites are here (as also mentioned in the slam book), surprisingly. There was something, some charm, to it, albeit being simple ones. There have been other ones with more appeasing views in the eyepiece; however, this one remains, not able to identify why. Maybe the answer is there: charm in simplicity not extravagances. Profound thought! 

 

Visual

(1) 4/P Faye

17 October 2006 @ ~19:30 UT

Magnitude 9 in Aries

Dark sky site 70 km north of Bangalore

Bortle 3, NELM 6-6.3 skies, black background, good stellar density, good bright Milky Way

Description through a handmade 10" f/5 Dob (with abberations in mirror): This object was a very beautiful one. It was reminiscent of a small comet painting, with a small coma and a small tail. The tail was distinct as a protrusion from the coma. The comet was pretty bright for it's size. This comet, one of the most beautiful ones I've observed till now, was a birthday's gift to me, when I observed it on 17th October after the stroke of midnight!

After three hours, could even spot its minute movement of probably an arc minute or two.

Colour inverted in Microsoft Paint from black on white.

 

Photographic

(1) C/2004 F4 Bradifeld

Not spotted this one, as I had only entered astronomy a year ago and into comets; but fell in love with it on photos seen later.

For many years there onwards, I was dejected in thinking that I had missed out on spotting, not a nightly, but a rare twilight sungrazer.

This one seen back then on the web, especially taken by John Chumack. And one by Sho Endo on SkyAndTelescope web.

https://skyandtelesc...lds-18th-comet/

https://dq0hsqwjhea1...ield_Endo_m.jpg

 

(2) C/2007 F1 LONEOS

Anyone remember this? It came by only for few days and slipped by. It, too, was a twilight slender streamer (tailed) one at 6th mag.

Not spotted this one, had tried to, but liked it on photos.

Not able to find that particular picture of it in evening twilight I found on the web back then. It was next in order for me.

 

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I had a "thing" for the twilight hued long tailed ones. And, Bradfield's, in those days, fit the bill.

Largely because it was an innate overdrive to find one myself, a bright sungrazer, which has put me out of sleep for days, nights, weeks, months, years, together, in spite of not actually scanning for it!

The nocturnal fainties (comets) are always there (in eyepiece or ccd); yet, it is a prized accomplishment in finding one in a binocular in the twilight hue.

 

Aha! The sheer beauty of comets to me is seen in these. Faye in 2006 visually and Bradfield in 2004 photographically (by someone else), to me, are the 2 most memorable views -- the latter largely owing it to having a human name behind it, found by a silent most accomplished individual; its a deep conscious mind connection.

 

And pretty much the list ends there. The mind chooses according to its pattern.

 

Beyond it, in the next category, "normal" ranking, there is a whole list that can be formed from all the sightings; not accounting for the mind's pattern in terms of these.

[David Knisely]

I think my favorites would go like this:

 

#1. Comet Hale-Bopp (c/1995 o1): due to the longevity of its appearance and its brightness with prominent gas and dust tails.

#2. Comet Hayakutake (C/1996 B2): longest tail on a comet I have ever seen (over 60 degrees).

#3. Comet West (C/1975 V1): Spectacular multi-tail pre-dawn comet that was bright enough to be seen from downtown Lincoln, NE.

#4. Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1): The first comet I was able to observe in broad daylight.  However, it was too low to get a good look at from home.

#5. Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas (C/2023 A3).  Fairly easy naked-eye comet with faint 18 degree tail and anti-tail, visible despite moonlight.

 

Honorable mentions:

Comet Giacobini-Zinner (21P): first comet I ever got to see (seen by accident in 1972 while testing my new 8 inch f/7 Newtonian).

Comet Kohoutek (C/1973 E1): first naked-eye comet I got to see, showing a 10 degree tail from dark skies once the moon got out of the way.

Comet Halley (1985-86): merely historical, seen with naked-eye with short tail.

Comet Kobayashi-Berger-Milon (C/1975 N1): 2nd naked-eye/telescopic comet I got to see, faint but with a 3 degree streamer-like tail.

Comet Holmes (17P) 2007 outburst: became easy naked-eye circular patch in the sky visible for weeks.

 

Below is a shot I took of Tsuchinshan-Atlas.  Clear skies to you.

 

Edited by David Knisely, 03 July 2025 - 09:06 AM.