1995 – Comet Hale–Bopp is discovered; it becomes visible to the naked eye on Earth nearly a year later.
Comet Hale–Bopp, formally designated C/1995 O1, is a long-period comet that was one of the most extensively observed of the 20th century and one of the brightest comets seen for several decades. One of its most remarkable discoveries was the presence of a third type of tail. In addition to the well-known gas and dust tails, Hale–Bopp also exhibited a faint sodium tail, which could only be observed with powerful instruments equipped with specialized filters. Sodium emission had been previously observed in other comets, but it had not been demonstrated to originate from a tail. Notably, Hale–Bopp’s sodium tail consisted of neutral atoms and extended to an impressive length of approximately 49 million kilometers.
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