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See Also

See Also in This Set

Astronomy

Heaven’s Gate mass suicide

Science and technology

Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet

The 1990s in America

Hale-Bopp comet

by Paul P. Sipiera

The Event The appearance of a magnificent naked-eye comet

Date July 22, 1995-fall, 1997

The discovery and later naked-eye appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp galvanized the world’s interest in astronomy.

People often feel that the professional scientist who uses the largest telescope and very sophisticated technology makes the greatest discoveries in astronomy. While this is often true, there is still room for the amateur sky watcher to make important discoveries. This is what happened to Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp on the night of July 22-23, 1995. Hale was viewing in the region of the constellation Sagittarius when he noticed a fuzzy object in his telescope’s field of view. Thinking that this might be a possible comet, he made sure he was not looking at a similar known object. Once convinced it was a comet, Hale sent an e-mail message to Brian Marsden at the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams in Cambridge, Massachusetts, informing him of his find. Unknown to Hale, in Stanfield, Arizona, Bopp was also observing in the same region of sky. He too found the fuzzy object and observed its motion against the background stars. He also knew that it was a comet and sent his discovery to the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams via telegram, but Hale’s message had arrived first. In science, when two individuals independently make the same discovery at almost the same time, both are given equal credit.

In 1994, people watched images of Comet Shoemaker-Levy collide with Jupiter, and in 1996 the brilliant Comet Hyakutake dominated the evening sky. With predictions that Comet Hale-Bopp would even outshine Hyakutake, people around the world anxiously awaited its arrival. In March, 1997, Comet Hale-Bopp stretched halfway across the evening sky and was easily seen by millions of people.

Impact

Many people enjoyed their view of Comet Hale-Bopp, but some viewed its appearance very differently. A religious group called Heaven’s Gate believed that the appearance of the comet had special meaning for them. The group’s founder, Marshall Applewhite, told thirty-eight of his followers that Earth was about to be “cleansed” by a cosmic event and that they had to immediately leave the planet. He convinced them that a spaceship carrying Jesus Christ was hiding behind the comet and was coming for them; the only way they could leave was by committing suicide, allowing their souls to join the spaceship as it neared Earth. On March 26, 1997, Applewhite and his followers were found dead, victims of a mass suicide.

Further Reading

1 

Burnham, Robert. Great Comets. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

2 

Newcott, William R. “The Age of Comets.” National Geographic Magazine 192, no. 6 (December, 1997): 94-109.

3 

Sagan, Carl, and Ann Druyan. Comet. New York: Random House, 1985.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Sipiera, Paul P. "Hale-Bopp Comet." The 1990s in America, edited by Milton Berman, Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1251.
APA 7th
Sipiera, P. P. (2009). Hale-Bopp comet. In M. Berman (Ed.), The 1990s in America. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Sipiera, Paul P. "Hale-Bopp Comet." Edited by Milton Berman. The 1990s in America. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.