# Did Any Of You Actually See Kohoutek Comet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 10, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343 "2009-06-10T16:30:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/1 "2009-06-10T16:30:51Z")
I recall I was about 8 or 9 when it was going to appear. We all were so excited as [Kohoutek Comet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Kohoutek) was billed as “the comet of the century.” Of course it turned out to be a 5 pound sack of nothing. I remember waiting and waiting to see it. Our grade school classes did studies and projects for it. And still… So did any of you around at the time see it? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/2 "2009-06-10T16:55:05Z")
Yes, I did. I think. I drove out into the middle of nowhere to look for it, and even then it wasn’t much. Haley’s wasn’t anything special to write home about either. There was another one that came along more or less unexpectedly that turned out to be much more impressive, but I can’t remember its name. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/3 "2009-06-10T16:56:29Z")
I saw it. I grew up in a rural area away from cities so we had a pretty clear view of the night sky. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/4 "2009-06-10T17:12:45Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Yes, I did. I think. I drove out into the middle of nowhere to look for it, and even then it wasn’t much. > > Haley’s wasn’t anything special to write home about either. > > There was another one that came along more or less unexpectedly that turned out to be much more impressive, but I can’t remember its name. [Hayakutake](http://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/3613692177/sizes/l/). I took this near Miami, AZ and don’t forget [Hale-Bopp](http://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/2395806799/sizes/l/), taken at Organ Pipe National Monument. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/5 "2009-06-10T17:34:04Z")
Saw it, wasn’t worth buying the T-shirt tho. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/6 "2009-06-10T17:41:41Z")
I remember it but didn’t see it, and I grew up in a rural area too. But Hale-Bopp, man, that was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/7 "2009-06-10T18:28:13Z")
Halley’s was my “first” comet and was a major letdown…nothing more than a vague fuzzy patch. Hayakutake & Hale-Bopp made up for it about a decade later… ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/8 "2009-06-10T18:35:27Z")
No. I did however send for a free Kohoutek booklet from my PBS TV station. I went outside at the proper times indicated but saw nothing special. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/9 "2009-06-10T20:46:49Z")
I saw [Halley’s comet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_comet). We went down to the beach with a telescope and hunted for it. Spectacular! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/10 "2009-06-10T21:03:12Z")
I was a kid when Halley’s came by last time, and we went way out to the country to get a look at it. It was a big deal to my parents because I might be alive to see it next time and all. We couldn’t find the thing, though. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/11 "2009-06-10T21:13:31Z")
I see by Wikipedia that last time was the crappiest Halley’s Comet in, like, ever. And, interestingly, that astronomers can see Halley’s go through its whole orbit now. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/12 "2009-06-10T21:15:34Z")
Halley’s was a dissapointment for me, New England was overcast IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/13 "2009-06-10T21:18:54Z")
I saw it (I had a telescope as a kid, it’s still in the basement somewhere) and was underwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/14 "2009-06-10T22:28:28Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [Hayakutake](http://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/3613692177/sizes/l/)… > [Hale-Bopp](http://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/2395806799/sizes/l/)… And don’t forget [McNaught](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_McNaught) - brightest in over 40 years (though only to observers in the southern hemisphere). ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/15 "2009-06-10T23:29:50Z")
Wasn’t around for the last Halley’s (or was WAY young), so Hale-Bopp is my only comet. Came home from vacation at night, saw a fuzzy start, then went “Oh, thaaaaats a comet”. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/16 "2009-06-10T23:38:39Z")
Yeah, I was in college in New England and a few of us went out into the darkest part of the campus to look at it. Oooh, fuzzy white dot! The [Observatory](http://www.wellesley.edu/Astronomy/) telescopes let you see the white fuzz a bit closer and a hint of the tail. Yawn. ETA: Comet Kohoutek and Halley’s Comet are not the same and I’m not that old. Halley’s was the one we saw in 1986. It was very overcast for its visit. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/17 "2009-06-10T23:50:44Z")
I was in High School. I saw it with binoculars. No big deal. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/18 "2009-06-10T23:57:37Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > And don’t forget [McNaught](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_McNaught) - brightest in over 40 years (though only to observers in the southern hemisphere). Yes - I really wish I had been able to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/19 "2009-06-11T02:13:43Z")
To give us hope in a few decades after Halley’s disappointing last show, there have been times when its tail swept across 60 degrees of sky and you could believe it meant the end of a dynasty. For that matter, right before Halley’s came in 1910, there was the Great Daylight Comet, which obviously you could see in the day. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343/20 "2009-06-11T03:16:55Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > [Hayakutake](http://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/3613692177/sizes/l/). I took this near Miami, AZ > > and don’t forget [Hale-Bopp](http://www.flickr.com/photos/11822576@N08/2395806799/sizes/l/), taken at Organ Pipe National Monument. Saw both of those. Nice!! (Even from Long Island, in the lightshadow of New York) Did not ever see stupid Kohoutek, and Halley’s was a very very faint nothing smeary star. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-of-you-actually-see-kohoutek-comet/499343.md?page=2)