Gallery 1 - Astronomical   >   Solar System   >   Comets   >   Comet Hale-Bopp

This comet was discovered independently by two different people; Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp in 1995. But it didn't put on a big show until May of 1997, one year after Comet Hyakutake. Comet Hale–Bopp's activity and outgassing were not spread uniformly over its nucleus, but instead came from several specific jets. It looked like it had two tails. Photo by Peter.