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A fire in the sky.


It sleeps in icy darkness and bursts into beautiful light and color as it is warmed by the sun. It is a spring flower? No, it's a comet!

This spring, comet Hale-Bopp Comet Hale-Bopp (formally designated C/1995 O1) was probably the most widely observed comet of the twentieth century, and one of the brightest seen for many decades.  will be streaking in from outer space. As it nears the blazing sun, scientists say this deep-space "dirty snowball snowball: see honeysuckle. " made of ice and rock will begin to melt and boil and fizz, possibly creating a long tail visible from Earth. But comets are unpredictable; Hale-Bopp could be just a glimmer.

Here are a few more bright and shiny comet facts.

Some comet appear regularly. Halley's comet Halley's comet or Comet Halley (hăl`ē, hā`lē), periodic comet named for Edmond Halley, who observed it in 1682 and identified it as the one observed in 1531 and 1607.  visits about every seventy-six year. Comet Hale-Bopp is expected to return in 2,363 years. Comet West
There is another long-period comet West: C/1978 A1 (a.k.a. 1977 IX, 1978a).

Comet West formally designated C/1975 V1, 1976 VI, and 1975n, was a spectacular comet, sometimes considered to qualify for the status of "great comet".
 arrived in 1976 but won't be back for half a million years.

To the ancient Greeks This an alphabetical list of ancient Greeks. These include ethnic Greeks and Greek language speakers from Greece and the Mediterranean world up to about 200 AD.

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A
, comets' tails must have looked like hair, because they named them Kometes, or "hairy ones."

Comet Hale-Bopp will be brightest just after sunset between March 26 and April 12. Look for it about twenty degrees (about three child's hand widths) above the northwestern horizon. It should also be visible just before dawn in the northeastern sky.
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Title Annotation:facts about comets
Publication:Jack & Jill
Date:Apr 1, 1997
Words:187
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