Great Comets of the 20th Century

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Experts have considered certain comets to be "great" according to such criteria as brightness, length of tail, number of nights visible to the naked eye, etc. In the 20th Century the following comets have been considered great:

1901 Viscara
1910 Great Daylight Comet
1910 Halley
1927 Skjellerup-Maristany
1965 Ikeya-Seki
1970 Bennett
1976 West
1996 Hyakutake
1997 Hale-Bopp

Of those great comets of the 20th century, I have seen Bennett, West, Hyakutake, and Hale-Bopp. I am interested in knowing which of those great comets others have seen and what you thought about them---and if you have a favorite.

Hale-Bopp I stepped outside into the darkness and gazed in the direction of the comet. After only a few seconds of looking I easily spotted it. It didn't dominate the night sky, but it was definitely visible and beautiful.

Hyakutake After looking upward in the darkness to where the comet was supposed to be, I couldn't see it. But after allowing my eyes ample time to adjust to the night sky, I thought I saw the faint glow of it. Sure enough, it was the comet. After sighting it, and allowing my eyes even more time to adjust, I had no trouble seeing it stretching nearly half way across the sky.

West Before going outside I thought I would look out the window with the lights off. And wow! There it was nice and bright. It wasn't as spectacular as Bennett in my opinion, but it was indeed a wonderful treat. It was much better than what I expected it would be. And its fan-shaped tail was spectacular. It was a very bright comet.

Bennett I stepped out into the cold night and was immediately held spell bound by the spectacular spectacle in the sky. It dominated the sky and was impossible to miss. It appeared like a beautiful piece of lightning frozen in the sky---splitting the sky in half. It was so awesome looking, but so silent---it left me with a strange feeling of awe and wonder that I have never forgotten. It was bright and its tail long and enduring. To me, it was the classic great comet.

Of those four great comets I have seen, Comet Bennett was the most spectacular in my opinion. My grandmother recalled seeing Skjellerup-Maristany when she was a teenager. She said one could read a newspaper outside by the light of it. I later investigated that claim in detailed books on comets and found out that people actually played ball outside to the light of that comet. So it must have been very bright. But since that was before my time, I can only base an opinion on the comets I have seen. So my favorite is Comet Bennett.