Great Comet

Among all the comets that blaze through Earth’s small sector of space, relatively few are spectacular enough to earn the honorific great. There are no objective standards for admission to the club. Naked-eye visibility alone won’t do it. For a comet to be considered great, it must be striking to the public at large; it must be immediately obvious to anyone glancing up into the sky. Suffice it to say that when astronomers talk about a great comet, they’re talking about a cosmic visitation that’s positively awe-inspiring.