Ikeya-seki, Comet

One of a group of Sun-grazing comets having similar orbits and including the great comet known as 1882 II. Discovered Sept. 18, 1965, by two Japanese amateur astronomers, Ikeya Kaoru and Seki Tsutomu, Ikeya-Seki made its closest approach to the Sun (470,000 kilometres, or about 290,000 miles; less than the Sun's radius) on Oct. 21, 1965. The comet was then bright enough to be seen with the naked eye in daylight. Like