Science Source Stock Photo - Comet Ikeya Seki, 1965

Comet Ikeya Seki, 1965

Description: Comet Ikeya-Seki was a long-period comet discovered independently by Kaoru Ikeya and Tsutomu Seki. As it approached perihelion observers reported that it was clearly visible in the daytime sky next to the Sun. It proved to be one of the brightest comets seen in the last thousand years, and is sometimes known as the Great Comet of 1965. A Great Comet is a comet that becomes exceptionally bright; there is no official definition, often the term will be attached to comets that become bright enough to be noticed by casual observers who are not actively looking for them, and become well known outside the astronomical community. Great Comets are rare; on average only one will appear in a decade. A comet is a celestial object that orbits the Sun along an elongated path. A comet forms a tail when solar heat or wind forces dust or gas off its coma, with the tail always streaming away from the Sun. Short-period comets have orbital periods of less than 200 years and come from the region known as the Kuiper belt. Long-period comets have periods greater than 200 years and come from the Oort cloud.

Credit:

New York Public Library/Science Source

Unique identifier: SS2498219

Legacy Identifier: BU1740

Type: Image

Size: 5332px × 2076px (~31 MB)

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