Aster › Space program › Hale-Bopp
Hale-Bopp
Position on the route: 90/130 · level needed 560 · journey (Mk0 engine) 118.7 h
By the numbers
| Nucleus | ≈ 60 km |
|---|---|
| Year | ≈ 2,500 years |
| Perihelion | 1 April 1997 |
| Discovered | 1995 |
The story
Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) was found independently by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp on 23 July 1995. Its nucleus is about 60 km: ten times a typical comet. It passed perihelion on 1 April 1997 and stayed visible to the naked eye for about 18 months, a record.
Both a dust tail and an ion tail shone at once, and a distinct sodium tail was seen in a comet for the first time. Jupiter’s pull in 1996 shortened its orbit, which now takes about 2,500 years: it returns around the year 4500.
Missions
- Observations: Hubble, ISO, ground telescopes
- No mission planned
Colony note
No colony; only a temporary landing point for water, ammonia and methane.
What probes bring back
- Found by Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp in 1995; in 1997 it was visible to the naked eye for about 18 months: the most widely watched comet of the twentieth century.
- A nucleus of about 60 km, ten times a typical comet; an orbit of about 2,500 years.