Comet West facts for kids
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Richard Martin West |
| Discovery date | August 10, 1975 |
| Designations | |
| C/1975 V1, 1976 VI, 1975n | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 2442840,5 |
| Aphelion | 13560 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.58 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 6.780,20 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0,99997 |
| Orbital period | 558306,4201 a |
| Inclination | 43,0664° |
| Last perihelion | February 25, 1976 |
| Next perihelion | 560.282 |
Comet West was a truly amazing comet. Many people even called it a great comet because it was so bright and easy to see.
A scientist named Richard Martin West discovered it on August 10, 1975. He found it by looking at pictures taken at the European Southern Observatory. When Comet West was at its brightest, people said they could even see it during the day!
Even though it was so spectacular, not many news reports talked about Comet West. This was partly because another comet, Comet Kohoutek, had been a bit of a disappointment in 1973. Scientists didn't want to get people's hopes up too much again.
Comet West travels on a path that is almost like a parabola. This means it takes a very long time to orbit the Sun. Scientists think it takes between 254,000 and 558,000 years to complete one trip. Some even guess it could take as long as 6.5 million years!
Contents
What Happened to Comet West?
Comet West came very close to the Sun for the first time in about 500,000 years. As it passed within 30 million kilometers (about 18.6 million miles) of the Sun, something incredible happened. The main part of the comet, called its nucleus, broke into four pieces!
The Comet Breaks Apart
The first news about the comet splitting came on March 7, 1976. People reported that the comet had broken into two parts. These two pieces were the only ones seen for a while.
Then, on the morning of March 18, two more pieces appeared. A scientist named Steven O'Meara saw them using a special telescope.
Other Comets That Broke Up
Seeing Comet West break apart was very rare back in the 1970s. Since then, other comets have also been seen breaking up. Some examples include Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 (73/P), C/1999 S4 LINEAR, and 57/P du Toit-Neujmin-Delporte.
Many people were surprised when Comet West broke up. The discoverer, Richard Martin West, was especially amazed. The comet broke into pieces even though it was still quite far from the Sun. It exploded into four parts, and these pieces scattered. Later, astronomers were able to study two of these pieces very closely.
Images for kids
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Animation of C／1975 V1 orbit around Sun C/1975 V1 · Sun · Mercury · Venus · Earth · Mars
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Sky path for Comet West, with 7 day motion. The retrograde loops are caused by parallax from Earth's annual motion around the Sun. The most movement occurs when the comet is closest to Earth.
See also
In Spanish: Cometa West para niños
