Famous Comets
Comet↕ | Designation↕ | Discovered↕ | Orbital Period↕ | Known For↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Halley's Comet | 1P/Halley | Recorded since 240 BC | 76 years | Most famous comet, predicted by Edmond Halley, last seen 1986 |
Hale-Bopp | C/1995 O1 | 1995 by Hale and Bopp | ~2533 years | Great Comet of 1997, visible to naked eye for 18 months |
Shoemaker-Levy 9 | D/1993 F2 | 1993 by Shoemakers and Levy | Captured by Jupiter | Collided with Jupiter in 1994, first observed planetary impact |
NEOWISE | C/2020 F3 | 2020 by NEOWISE telescope | ~6800 years | Brightest comet visible from Northern Hemisphere since Hale-Bopp |
Hyakutake | C/1996 B2 | 1996 by Yuji Hyakutake | ~70,000 years | Great Comet of 1996, passed very close to Earth, huge tail |
Comet McNaught | C/2006 P1 | 2006 by Robert McNaught | ~92,000 years | Great Comet of 2007, brightest in 40 years from Southern Hemisphere |
Comet Lovejoy | C/2011 W3 | 2011 by Terry Lovejoy | ~622 years | Survived passage through Sun's corona, Great Christmas Comet 2011 |
Comet ISON | C/2012 S1 | 2012 by ISON telescope | Nearly parabolic | Disintegrated at perihelion November 2013, hyped as comet of the century |
Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko | 67P/C-G | 1969 by Churyumov and Gerasimenko | 6.45 years | Target of Rosetta mission, Philae lander touched down 2014 |
Comet Tempel 1 | 9P/Tempel | 1867 by Wilhelm Tempel | 5.56 years | Target of Deep Impact mission 2005, impactor excavated crater |
Comet Wild 2 | 81P/Wild | 1978 by Paul Wild | 6.41 years | Stardust mission collected and returned dust samples (2006) |
Comet Holmes | 17P/Holmes | 1892 by Edwin Holmes | 6.88 years | Unprecedented 2007 outburst, briefly largest object in solar system |
Comet Encke | 2P/Encke | 1786 by Pierre Mechain | 3.3 years | Shortest known orbital period for a comet |
Great Comet of 1811 | C/1811 F1 | 1811 by Honore Flaugergues | ~3100 years | Visible to naked eye for 260 days, referenced in Tolstoy's War and Peace |
Great Comet of 1882 | C/1882 R1 | 1882 | ~800 years | Kreutz sungrazer, bright enough to see during the day |
Comet West | C/1975 V1 | 1975 by Richard West | ~250,000 years | Spectacular 1976 display, nucleus fragmented into 4 pieces |
Comet Donati | C/1858 L1 | 1858 by Giovanni Donati | ~2000 years | First comet ever photographed, dramatic curved tail |
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Frequently asked questions
How is the Famous Comets list ranked?
The Famous Comets list is currently sorted by the source data's default ordering. Community voting is not enabled on this dataset.
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This dataset contains 17 entries, each with multiple sortable, filterable columns. The full table is visible on this page and can be downloaded as a CSV, JSON, or Excel file.
Can I download the Famous Comets data?
Yes. The download buttons at the top of the page give you the full 17-row dataset as CSV, JSON, or Excel. Use of the data is permitted under a Creative Commons Attribution license — credit dtbse.com when you republish.
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