cheesecake
Sir Francis Drake
Cupid and Comet
comet
Dancer Prancer Vixen Comet Cupid Donner Blitzen Rudolf
There are probably THOUSANDS of different periodic comets. There are a couple of HUNDRED whose orbital parameters, like those of Comet Halley, are known with some precision. That leaves thousands MORE comets that have never, since astronomical records have been kept, visited the inner solar system - and possibly thousands more that are "hyperbolic" comets, meaning that they have never been here before and will never return to the inner system. So generally, the first we know of a comet is when it is discovered by comet hunters. By happy coincidence, there is a comet approaching the Sun even as we speak; Comet Yi-SWAN, which is apparently on its first visit to the inner system. It seems unlikely to be all that spectacular, but new comets fresh from deep space and potentially packed with volatile ices and chemicals are full of surprises.
comet
Comet
While there are some periodic comets whose orbits are known and whose returns are predictable, most of the comets that we see are unknown; their orbits are longer than recorded history.So there will probably be a comet visible in 2011, but we won't know it until someone "discovers" it in the night sky.
Halley's Comet is a well-known comet that has been recorded throughout history, with the earliest known sighting dating back to 240 BC. Its periodic appearance every 75-76 years has been documented by civilizations such as the ancient Chinese, Greeks, and Babylonians.
redemancy
Am. colonization society
Jonathan Edwards