[PrkChps]

I am old enough to remember Kohoutek in 1973, and Halley in 1985, plus a few other sky-smudges that were oversold prior to their actual visibility. (Kohoutek was not even visible from North America if I remember correctly). These guys always say it will be visible by day, outshine the moon, etc. Then it turns out to be crap. Just like Obama.

[mylife]

LOL!

[HereInTheHeartland]

“Then it turns out to be crap. Just like Obama.”

Hopefully Comet Barack will miss on it's near earth collision course; and head back out to outer space to never be heard from again.

[SamAdams76]

Ditto. These comets are always as oversold as a New England snowstorm in March - they always fizzle out after much hype. I remember Kahoutek as a boy, our teachers had us thinking a momentous event was about to happen but it turned out that you needed a telescope to see it. Halley was also a major dud after years of hype.

The only comet that somewhat measured up during my lifetime was Hale-Bopp in 1997 - the one that caused that Heaven's Gate cult to commit mass-suicide. At least that one you could spot with the naked eye and while not exactly spectacular, it was something you could look up in the sky and actually see without having to rig up a telescope.

Comets pretty much suck wind. I did like Bill Haley and his Comets however.

[Kirkwood]

Kohoutek was definitely visible to the naked eye in the US. I remember it quite well and somewhere I have photographs of it.

[ccmay]

Comet Hale-Bopp back in 1997 was pretty spectacular, I must say.