Have other comets been seen that are bigger than Hale-Bopp?

Comet Shoemaker-Levy-9 was about 30 - 60 kilometers in size. The Comet of 1729 was probably also that big based on its naked eye size at the time of its observation when it was still 4 AU from the Sun. In 370 BC, the Kreutz Sungrazing comet family may have been produced by a parent body 120 kilometers across. There are many comet like bodies in the outer solar system with sizes above 100 kilometers waiting to enter the inner solar system given the right perturbation.


Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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