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Famous Comets
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Comet Hyakutake
Orbital period: About 17,000 years, Last perihelion: March 25, 1996, Historical significance: Known for its close approach to Earth and bright blue-green ion tail.
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Orbital period: Fragmented, Last perihelion: Disintegrated in July 1994, Historical significance: First comet observed to collide with a planet (Jupiter), providing valuable scientific data.
Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3)
Orbital period: Several thousand years, Last perihelion: December 16, 2011, Historical significance: Notable for surviving a close pass to the Sun and for being visible to the naked eye.
Comet ISON (C/2012 S1)
Orbital period: No longer exists, disintegrated, Last perihelion: November 28, 2013, Historical significance: Gained widespread media attention due to its extreme brightness predictions, but disintegrated during its solar approach.
Comet Borrelly
Orbital period: 6.86 years, Last perihelion: February 1, 2015, Historical significance: Subject of Deep Space 1 space probe flyby, providing significant data on comet surfaces and composition.
Comet Hale-Bopp
Orbital period: About 2,533 years, Last perihelion: April 1, 1997, Historical significance: One of the most widely observed comets of the 20th century, known for its great brightness.
Comet Swift-Tuttle
Orbital period: 133 years, Last perihelion: December 11, 1992, Historical significance: The parent body of the Perseid meteor shower.
Comet Encke
Orbital period: 3.3 years, Last perihelion: June 26, 2020, Historical significance: Second comet recognized as periodic after Halley's and with the shortest known orbital period of any comet.
Halley's Comet
Orbital period: 75-76 years, Last perihelion: February 9, 1986, Historical significance: First comet to be recognized as periodic, predicted by Edmond Halley.
Comet Wild 2
Orbital period: About 6.4 years, Last perihelion: February 2, 2021, Historical significance: Sampled by NASA's Stardust mission, revealing the presence of crystalline silicates which were unexpected in comets.
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