Today in History: 1995 Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered and becomes visible to the naked eye nearly a year later
Comet Hale-Bopp was an unusually bright comet that flew by Earth, reaching its closest approach to the planet in 1997. It was most spectacular in the Northern Hemisphere and visible to the naked eye for about 18 months.
Hale-Bopp was probably one of the most viewed comets in history. With an absolute magnitude of -1, the comet was one of the brightest comets to reach the inner solar system in recorded history, NASA said. Hale-Bopp appeared 1,000 times brighter than Halley’s Comet did at the same distance. Its twin blue-and-white tails were clearly visible even from light-polluted areas such as Chicago.
The Hale-Bopp comet was found independently by two amateur astronomers, Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona. At the time of its discovery, Hale-Bopp was the farthest comet ever to be discovered by amateurs, according to NASA.
Both men trained their telescopes on nearby globular cluster M70 on July 23, 1995. Hale, who had a doctorate in astronomy but was running an educational company, had looked at the same area just days earlier and was surprised to see a new blob in the sky.
“As soon as I looked, I saw a fuzzy object nearby,” he said in a 1997 Time magazine interview. “It was strange because I’d looked at M70 a couple of weeks earlier and the object hadn’t been there.”
Hale recalled looking at the sky a few hours later and seeing the object had moved. In his mind, he told Time, it was definitely a comet.
Almost simultaneously, Bopp saw the same object in the sky. Both men sent their observations to the International Astronomical Union’s Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams.
Astronomers were astounded at how bright the comet, officially designated C/1995 O1, appeared even from its great distance away. While they expected the comet would be bright when it arrived close to Earth, predictions are tricky when it comes to comets — they are essentially just balls of ice and dust that erupt in ways that are hard to anticipate.
“It’s been kind of nerve-racking to sit through all those months wondering if the comet would fizzle,” Hale told Time.
According to NASA, Hale-Bopp’s closest approach to Earth occurred on March. 22, 1997, at a distance of about 120 million miles (193 million kilometers). (By comparison, the sun is 93 million miles, or 150 million km, from Earth). Astronomers still had the bright Hyakutake comet fresh in their minds at the time as it just passed by Earth in 1996. Hale-Bopp was many times farther away than Hyakutake but still appeared much brighter.
Read more about it here: Hale-Bopp: The Bright and Tragic Comet of the 1990s | Space
Also on this day
1579 Francis Drake departs San Francisco to cross the Pacific Ocean
1599 Italian painter Caravaggio gets his first public commission, the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
1829 William Austin Burt patents America’s first typewriter, the typographer
1868 All England Lawn Tennis Club is founded as the All England Croquet Club; in 1877, the name changes to the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club
1888 John Boyd Dunlop applies for a patent for the pneumatic tyre
1904 Ice cream cone is created during the St. Louis World’s Fair, reputedly first by Charles E. Menches
1945 Marshal Philippe Pétain, leader of the French Vichy collaborationist regime during World War II, goes on trial
1955 English speed ace Donald Campbell drives Bluebird K7 to a new water speed record at Ullswater in the English Lake District, becoming the first boat to surpass 200 mph at 202.32 mph (325.60 km/h)
1962 First live transatlantic television signal
1967 First successful liver transplant on 19-month-old Julie Rodriguez by Dr Starzl at the University of Colorado
1972 First Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS) is launched to document global land use change as a joint NASA/USGS program and is later renamed Landsat 1
2015 NASA’s Kepler mission announces the discovery of the most Earth-like planet yet, Kepler-452b, located 1,400 light-years from Earth
2019 US Senate passes bill championed by comedian Jon Stewart to ensure 9/11 first responders fund never runs out of money
2024 Hottest day on Earth: average global temperature of 17.15°C (62.87°F) surpasses record set the previous day, according to EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service
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1989 Daniel Radcliffe - English actor (Harry Potter in the Harry Potter series of movies), born in London, England
1974 Maurice Greene - American athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 4x100m 2000; World C’ship gold 100m 1997; 100m, 200m, 4x100m 1999; WR 100m 9.79s 1999), born in Kansas City, Kansas
1962 Eriq La Salle - American actor (Dr Peter Benton-ER), born in Hartford, Connecticut
1888 Raymond Chandler - American-British mystery novelist and screenwriter (Farewell My Lovely; The Long Goodbye; The Big Sleep), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1959)
1844 Harriet Williams Russell Strong - American inventor, agricultural entrepreneur (created dams and reservoirs in California), women’s rights activist, born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1926)
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2020 Mars Rafikov - Russian cosmonaut (one of the 20 original cosmonauts), dies at 66
2012 Sally Ride - American astronaut and 1st American woman in space, dies of pancreatic cancer at 61
2002 Reginald “Leo” McKern - Australian actor (Blue Lagoon, Help, Mouse that Roared, Rumpole of the Bailey), dies of health complications at 82
1971 Van Heflin [Emmett Evan Heflin Jr] - American stage, screen, and radio actor (Johnny Eager; Shane; Madame Bovary; 3:10 to Yuma), dies of a heart attack at 62
1930 Glenn Curtiss - American aviation pioneer and airplane builder, dies at 52
Holidays on this day
Gorgeous Grandma Day
Hot Enough For Ya Day
Mosquito Day
National Vanilla Ice Cream Day
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Day
Sprinkle Day
World Sjogren’s Day
Yada, Yada, Yada Day
The Funnies:
Interesting (not necessarily extinct) animal of the day:
The Crested gecko, or Correlophus Ciliatus, is a gecko species that lives in New Caledonia, a chain of islands in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. The Crested gecko is a common pet that was thought to be extinct until 1994, when scientist Robert Seipp rediscovered the species.
Along with the fact that this little lizard reaches lengths of 6-8 inches, the Crested gecko is known for its wide eyes and bright colors. Like many other species of geckos, the Crested gecko lacks eyelids. Thus, they have incredibly long tongues that allow them to reach from their mouths to their eyes to keep them moist as well as to clear away debris. Other than being known for their bulging eyes, Crested geckos are also famously known for their hundreds of distinct color and pattern variations. From spots to stripes, the Crested gecko has it all.
The Crested gecko lives in the trees of the rainforest. As an arboreal species of reptile, they often leap from tree to tree. Since they are also a nocturnal species – meaning awake during the night – they can be commonly found sleeping high in tree crevices in the daytime and feasting at night. Just like humans, they are omnivores, meaning they consume both meat (or insects) and plants (in their case, fruits). During the evening, they can be found down on the rainforest floor eating rotten fruit and any bugs that may be inside.
For those who are familiar with gecko species, they lose their tails. While many species of gecko regrow their tails, the Crested gecko does not. When attacked by a predator, they will drop or lose their tail to distract predators from escaping. Once their tail is lost, the Crested gecko will not regrow it.
In captivity, Crested geckos make great pets. They can be kept in relatively small enclosures (10–36-gallon tanks stood upright) and require little annual fees. They can live up to 20 years in captivity and often tolerate being handled. We love this interesting little lizard!
Read more: Cool Creatures: The Crested Gecko
Quote of the Day:
“Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.”
Sigmund Freud
Video of the Day:
Happy birthday to David Essex (1947):
And to Martin Gore (1961):
And also to Slash (1965):
Released on this day in 1966:
Comic of the Day:
Credit: #241; In which Blood is sucked – Wondermark
Inspirobot Always Controversial, Occasionally Inspirational Quote of the Day:
Read @Vikingmichael’s Thunderstruck Spark! from yesterday here: https://community.spiceworks.com/t/spark-pro-series-22-july-2025
Don’t forget to leave some spice right here ↓
