Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered independently by two American observers, Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona, on the same night in 1995. It was found when it was still far away, beyond the orbit of Jupiter, which meant that it was unusually bright for such a distance and promised a spectacular show. It reached its closest approach to the Sun in the spring of 1997 and was visible to the naked eye for about eighteen months, a record for a comet. Its large nucleus produced a bright coma and two tails, one of dust and one of gas. It became one of the most widely observed comets of the twentieth century.
Before and after
- 24 June 1995Nelson Mandela presents the Rugby World Cup to South Africa's captain
- July 1995Srebrenica massacre
- 17 July 1995The Global Positioning System reaches full operational capability
- from 21 July 1995 to 23 March 1996Third Taiwan Strait Crisis
- 23 July 1995Discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp
- from 25 July 1995 to 29 July 1995Operation Summer '95
- from 4 August 1995 to 7 August 1995Operation Storm
- 16 August 1995Release of Internet Explorer
- 24 August 1995Creation of Windows 95
More in Universe & space
- 4 October 1957Launch of Sputnik 1
- 22 October 1969Discovery of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
- 14 September 1974Discovery of Leda
- 28 July 1989Discovery of Galatea
- 19 January 2006Launch of New Horizons
- 26 June 2012Discovery of Styx
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.