Comets

When it comes to celestial phenomena, nothing is more dramatic than a good-sized comet. The streaking snowballs give breathtaking shows when they pass close to earth.

Halley's comet was a notorious 1986 bomb, as its orbit sent it by far from earth. But Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp were pleasant surprises in 1996 and 1997.

When will the next large display delight us? We're due, that's for sure. Hyakutake was discovered just a few weeks before it streaked across our northern skies.

Today's FamilyFirst site will get you in the mood for the next comet sighting. It's called Windows to the Universe: Comets.

You can see the incredible photos of Shewmaker-Levy's collision with Jupiter back in 1994. Man, that iceball left some kind of scars on Jupiter's atmosphere.

The site is kind of funky-cool in that it allows three modes of viewing: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Just how detailed do you want the explanations to be?

So read up on comets, and then go out in your back yard tonight and start searching. After all, that's how Hyakutake was discovered!

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