Discovery of Comet Ikeya–Seki

Comet Ikeya-Seki was discovered by two Japanese amateur astronomers, Kaoru Ikeya and Tsutomu Seki, who found it independently of each other within a short time. It belongs to the Kreutz group of sungrazing comets, which pass very close to the Sun, and it grazed the solar surface in October 1965, becoming bright enough to be seen in daylight next to the Sun. Many consider it one of the brightest comets of the last thousand years, and its long tail was spectacular in the dawn sky. Its nucleus broke into several pieces as it passed the Sun. It is believed to share an origin with earlier great comets, and its next return is expected in the distant future.

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