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For a comet to become spectacular, it also should pass close to the earth and be visible to casual observers. Halley's Comet, for example, is usually very bright when it passes through the inner solar system every 76 years, but during its 1986 apparition, its closest approach to earth was almost the most distant possible. The comet became visible to the naked eye, but was definitely unspectacular.

I'm not surprised the 1976 appearance was not spectacular; especially since it came not in 1976 but 1986! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.76.96.17 (talk • contribs) 17:49, 17 January 2005‎ (UTC)[reply]

Capitalisation

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Great comet or Great Comet? The article is inconsistent on capitalisation at the moment, but I don't know enough to decide which is right. Markyour words 18:50, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) great?

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This comet is very similar with comet West. It can be included in this article. What do you think? 195.189.142.220 18:47, 10 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It's pushing the definition. Yes it's bright, but viewing is impaired by close proximity to the Sun and very small size. Observing it on Mt Soledad on 12 JAN, very few people could see it even when pointed out to them. Most prople were there to watch the sunset and were not aware there was a comet visible. Rereading the main article, it may not fit the description as defined. Exaggeration could lead to future disappointment, something that has happened repeatedly with astronomical objects in the past. Robogun 01:42, 16 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
McNaught was spectacular in the southern hemisphere. -- Elphion (talk) 17:14, 9 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Other great comets

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According to this, comet NEAT (2003) and Southern Comet (1947) were all as bright or brighter than mag. 0. Why aren't they in the article? Should they be included? Thanks. AstroHurricane001(Talk+Contribs+Ubx) 21:30, 12 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Arend-Roland (1956) is the Great Comet of 1957 and Bennett (1969) is the Great Comet of 1970. I have removed them for your list since they are already included in the article. The Southern Comet (C/1947 X1)[1] does not have a wikipedia article and was first sighted on Dec 7, faded rapidly, and was lost to the naked eye by Dec. 25th. C/2002 V1 (NEAT) is ONLY the 7th brightest comet in the last 70 years (what is so great about that?), and as a modern day comet really NEEDS good pictures (plural) to back-up its greatness. The Eclipse Comet (C/1948 V1) famous for being magnitude -2 during a solar eclipse sounds more impressive. -- Kheider (talk) 19:56, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, so should I create an article for the Southern Comet as I have done with articles for many other comets? Thanks. ~AH1(TCU) 22:28, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Given that it was one of two impressive (though not really Great) December comets only a year apart, I don't see why not. -- Kheider (talk) 23:31, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Everyone needs to keep in mind that a comet can be very bright without being considered a "Great Comet" - it needs to be both bright AND far enough away from the sun (in terms of angular degrees) to also APPEAR bright. A comet could be at magnitude -5 (spectacularly bright)but only a few degrees away from the sun when that bright, and hence never achieve a spectacular appearance in the night sky.12.77.139.157 (talk) 01:04, 14 March 2010 (UTC) veteran astronomer[reply]

Comet Holmes?

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Has Comet Holmes been considered as a "Great Comet?" Don't want to do WP:NOR, just wondering if anyone has mentioned Holmes as a "Great Comet" or if it fits the definition, and so should be included? It did cause quite a stir when it hopped up the magnitude scale, became visible to the naked eye, developed a coma of dimensions not unlike the sun, etc. 64.122.15.114 (talk) 19:51, 8 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not a Great Comet in my book, but it is an interesting one because it was the second time it experienced an outburst. Choronzon (talk) 23:01, 26 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Comet Seki-Lines (1962)

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First time I see that comet mentioned in a list of Great Comets. It was a bright comet but definitely not "Great Comet" material in my view. Google comes back with roughly 120 results in images for seki-lines compared with ikeya-seki with 3210 Choronzon (talk) 23:01, 26 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]


Brainstorm

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Just for brainstorming Great Comets on comets-ml. (Hale-Bopp vs Hyakutake) -- Kheider (talk) 15:35, 24 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I've included Lovejoy in the list of Great Comets. SOHO's website and some US Military sites called it the "Great Birthday Comet of 2011". ~AH1 (discuss!) 21:27, 25 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Next great comet?

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Would it make sense to add a short note about C/2012 S1? This has a strong possibility of being the next great comet. Ffejmopp (talk) 16:41, 12 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Not really since there is currently too much hype and not enough facts about the brightening trend for the comet. Comets often behave differently when they are within 1.5AU of the Sun and comet ISON will not be 1.5AU from the Sun until October 2013. Comet Elenin could have been a great comet if it did not disintegrate when it was ~0.8AU from the Sun in August 2011. -- Kheider (talk) 17:19, 12 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move

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The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: page moved. I note that this is reversing a previous undiscussed move. Andrewa (talk) 05:53, 20 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Great Comet → Great comet – Per Wikipedia:Naming conventions (capitalization), common names should be lowercase. Great comet is not a trademark, place or work title. Ibadibam (talk) 23:04, 12 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)

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If the definition for a "great comet" is simply a comet that's bright enough to be noticed by casual observers who aren't purposefully looking for it, then I think NEOWISE definitely fits the bill. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kdenny994 (talk • contribs) 16:41, 11 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It is needs to be exceptionally bright and generally for an extended period. Too many people confuse "damn good" for greatness. How it performs in the evening sky will also be important. A large outburst in the evening sky would definitely help the case. But NEOWISE might simply be passing too far from Earth (100 million km) to achieve true greatness. -- Kheider (talk) 01:36, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

In that case, I suggest amending the definition of "great comet" to reflect that. As it currently stands, based on that definition, Lovejoy (2011) and NEOWISE fit the current definition. -- Kdenny994 (talk) 15:07, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Neither Lovejoy or NEOWISE are the best of the best. I also do not see reliable sources specifically calling them a "great comet". Lovejoy was called a great Christmas comet, but that was more a play on words. Eddie Irizarry actually says NEOWISE is not great. If a comet is truly a "great comet" there should be astronomers calling it such. -- Kheider (talk) 15:34, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]
There are astronomers that call NEOWISE a great comet: How Great of a CO+CO2 producer was The Great Comet of 2020? The survey also discovered the Great Comet of 2020, garnering public attention from across the globe. C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was discovered (...) and has become the Great Comet of 2020. Owing to these parameters, this comet has been qualified as a “great comet” by some researchers. [2] C messier (talk) 20:24, 26 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]


True, but I'm not making the argument that Lovejoy and NEOWISE are "great comets". I'm raising objection to the definition on this page, "which are bright enough to be noticed by casual observers who are not looking for them, and become well known outside the astronomical community." Lovejoy and NEOWISE both meet this definition. -- Kdenny994 (talk) 11:24, 13 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

In this day and age of social media, I am not sure what "well known" means as it is a vague term. How many non-astronomers will remember NEOWISE in 6 months? -- Kheider (talk) 12:44, 18 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Probably quite a few. At this point, NEOWISE is likely the most photographed comet in history. Even amateurs with a cellphone can photograph it! -- Kdenny994 (talk) 21:25, 20 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Certainly not forgotten, it has become a reference point for an easy to spot comet: "This comet isn't expected to be quite the spectacle that Comet NEOWISE was back in 2020," NASA said. Will it be another comet NEOWISE ? Probably not. --C messier (talk) 20:37, 26 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comet Lovejoy

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Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3) was largely invisible to the naked eye during its peak brightness due to its proximity to the Sun. Do reliable sources truly consider it a "Great Comet"? Seems dubious to me. -- Kheider (talk) 09:26, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. If there are no strong sources backing this, I'd suggest we remove it from the list. Rehman 13:25, 12 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]
EarthSky [3] claims that "Everyone agrees that comet Lovejoy of 2011 was a great comet." I guess they are incorrect? AstroMark (talk) 12:22, 24 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]
That is just one source. If every astronomer agrees Lovejoy was a truly a great comet, where are the other sources?? -- Kheider (talk) 13:26, 24 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS)

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I noticed C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) was briefly listed in the list of great comets, but was removed. It might be a good idea to open up some discussion on this comet before deciding to include it.

Of course, WP:NOR applies here, but last night I was able to observe it easily as a naked eye object after sunset (from Madison, WI), and it is well within the realm of smartphone photography. I personally think it's a contender – it's the most impressive comet I've ever seen – but of course we'll want a broader consensus than that. Brainandforce (talk) 17:35, 15 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Seiichi Yoshida, an amateur astronomer, who maintains a website about comets characterised it as a great comet in his latest weekly update [4], but I can't find others mentioning it as such, yet. It will take time to clear out as it isn't among the greatest of all times (just short of daylight visibility, the tail wasn't observed to be longer than 30° visually), but it certainly was a typical great comet (the traditionally great comets of history were as bright as or brighter than a star of first- or second-magnitude with tails that could be traced to 10–20 degrees or more in a dark sky. from Seargent, David The greatest comets in history). C messier (talk) 10:08, 19 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
176.15.223.190 (talk) 20:22, 22 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

C/2023 A3 (Цучиньшань – ATLAS)

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Russia I was very lucky to observe the comet at its peak on October 13th and 14th. It was a show, for the first time in my life I saw a real bright tailed comet with the naked eye! Bright very long tail, about 15° at maximum! It was impossible not to notice, even for people far from astronomy, the comet is a dream, the delight of what they saw! These days, the comet could be compared to the great comets of the past, it will definitely remain in the memory! Already on October 15, the comet began to weaken rapidly under the influence of various factors. Those who observed the comet on October 13 and 14 were very lucky, first of all those who observed it far from the glare, but even in cities the comet was observed even through a window pane. I will put this comet in the 1st place of those that I have observed in my life, but it bypassed the Neo-Wise. The only problem was that it quickly faded away, otherwise everything corresponded to the great comet. I was very surprised and impressed, it was so cool to see this long tail even under the moon. Of course, this is a Great Comet, I agree with S. Yoshida. 176.15.223.190 (talk) 20:20, 22 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

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