Discovery of Comet Kohoutek

Comet Kohoutek was discovered by the Czech astronomer Lubos Kohoutek, working at the Hamburg Observatory in Bergedorf, Germany, while he was searching for asteroids. Because he found it when it was still very far from the Sun, astronomers predicted that it might become the comet of the century, and the press raised public expectations accordingly. When it passed closest to the Sun at the end of 1973, it was much fainter than forecast and disappointed many casual observers. It was nonetheless studied intensively by professional astronomers, including the astronauts aboard the American space station Skylab, and the observations added to knowledge of how comets behave. It is a long-period comet and will not return for tens of thousands of years.

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