Comet Arend-Roland was discovered at the Royal Observatory of Belgium by the astronomers Sylvain Arend and Georges Roland, using photographic plates. It became one of the brightest comets of the 1950s. In April 1957 it was visible to the naked eye in the evening sky, with a curved dust tail and an unusual spike pointing toward the Sun. This anti-tail is not a real tail but an effect of perspective: it consists of larger dust particles left in the comet's orbital plane, seen edge-on from Earth. The comet received wide press coverage, and it was observed by many amateur astronomers. It is a long-period comet and will not be seen again for many thousands of years.
Before and after
- 21 October 1956Birth of Carrie Fisher
- from 23 October 1956 to 10 November 1956Hungarian Revolution of 1956
- 28 October 1956Birth of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- from 29 October 1956 to 7 November 1956Suez Crisis
- 8 November 1956Discovery of Comet Arend–Roland
- from 5 December 1956 to 29 March 1961Treason Trial
- 20 December 1956Montgomery bus boycott
- 1957Founding of Kleť Observatory
- 1957Personal computer
More in Universe & space
- 30 September 1975Discovery of Themisto
- 22 June 1978Discovery of Charon
- 20 January 1986Discovery of Ophelia
- 19 February 1986Launch of Mir
- 1998Supernovae show that cosmic expansion is accelerating
- 20 November 1998Launch of International Space Station
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.