long-period comet
Comet Hale–Bopp
The Great Comet of 1997, one of the most widely seen comets in history, visible to the naked eye for many months.
- Distance from Earth today
- 7.70 billion km51.47 AU · light: 7 h 8 min
- Distance from the Sun today
- 7.67 billion km51.26 AU
- As of
- 2 November 2026position from NASA/JPL orbital elements
Where it is today
Top view of the plane of Earth’s orbit, compressed distance scale. Open on the big map with the time slider →
Facts
- Diameter
- 60 km
- Semi-major axis
- 181.2 AU (27.11 billion km)
- Perihelion
- 0.927 AU
- Aphelion
- 361.5 AU
- Orbital period
- 2,440 years
- Orbital eccentricity
- 0.995
- Orbital inclination
- 89.7°
- Perihelion passage
- 29 March 1997
- Minimum orbit distance from Earth’s orbit (MOID)
- 0.088 AU (13.14 million km)
- Albedo
- 0.040
Source of the figures: JPL Small-Body Database (public domain).
Discovery: 1995 – Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp
Description
Hale–Bopp was discovered independently on the same night in July 1995 by Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona, while it was still beyond the orbit of Jupiter. Its exceptionally large nucleus made it bright even at that distance, and in 1997 it became a spectacular sight with separate blue gas and white dust tails. It remained visible to the naked eye for a record length of time – about a year and a half – and was seen by a huge number of people worldwide. Hale–Bopp is a long-period comet and will not return for thousands of years.