dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (03/07/86)
This is the anniversary of the discovery of Comet Kohoutek. More about it -- when we come back. March 7 The Comet of the Century On this date in the year 1973, an astronomer took a photograph of the sky which later revealed the image of a comet. A few weeks later, the astronomer announced the discovery of the comet which was given his name -- Kohoutek. You probably recall the name -- since the comet was widely hailed by the press to be the comet of the century. Kohoutek was supposed to be so bright that it might be visible even in the daytime. Well, it wasn't visible in daytime. In fact, it was one of the more delicate naked-eye comets, visible only in the dark of evening, around January 1974. Comet Kohoutek was a typical comet in being so unpredictable. But it was unusual, because it was discovered nearly 10 months before its closest approach to the sun. That gave scientists a chance to prepare for the comet -- and Comet Kohoutek was one of the most widely studied comets in history. Comets originate in a "comet cloud" that lies in a huge round shell far beyond the outermost planet. It's only when something dislodges them from the cloud that comets plunge in toward the sun -- go around it -- and head back out again toward the outer solar system. When they're near the sun, they can become bright enough to be visible to the naked eye -- but even then we don't see them shoot through the sky like rockets or meteors. Instead, a comet appears as a ball of haze that drifts slowly among the stars from night to night. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin