Hyakutake on March 27

by Joe Orman


Comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake and a Saguaro cactus, Arizona

"On January 30, 1996, Yuji Hyakutake in Japan discovered a new comet using 25x150 binoculars. The comet was designated Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake). As subsequent observations of the new comet were obtained, Brian Marsden from the IAU Central Bureau was able to compute the comet's orbital elements, and these computations indicated that the comet will pass as close as 0.10 AU (9.3 million miles) from the Earth on March 25, 1996" NASA