About Comets

Comet Hyakutake as viewed from Kitt Peak in March 1996. Photo by Tod Lauer.

These pages are not meant to be a comprehensive study of comets, but rather an overview of comet research being done at NOAO. We will include links to other sites that may have interesting comet material posted on the Web as well.

Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp)

Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 from KPNO, CTIO, and SacPeak Observatories. See the following sites for additional coverage of this comet and its impact with Jupiter.

• Jet Propulsion Lab
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• University of Oregon Astronomy Department

Comet Ikeya-Seki 1965F, viewed from Kitt Peak at dawn on October 29, 1965, courtesy of Roger Lynds. (4 minute exposure on High Speed Extachrome)

And for fun, build your own comet!