Cridders88 Wrote:Well it was around that time so perhaps that is the one I saw. Cheers Suds
Hale-Bopp was the one i was going to suggest to you myself as the most likely, just like [MENTION=23097]Insertnamehere[/MENTION] offered. what you saw had to have passed between 1992 and 1998, more likely when you were beyond the age of 5, though. Hale-Bopp offered one of the most spectacular views ever, so if that's what you saw, you should be able to recognize it in retrospect.
Hale-Bopp looked like this:
other possible contenders between those years would be Swift-Tuttle in 1992, Hyakutake in 1996, 55P/Tempel-Tuttle in 1998, and 21P/Giacobini-Zinner also in 1998.
Hyakutake was brightest for only a few days, starting from March 24, 1996, compared to the Hale-Bopp comet which achieved such a memorable effect in people's minds due to it having been visible for months (with intermission).
Hale-Bopp was visible for 18 months altogether! it looked its most spectacular in April 1997 when it passed the perihelion.
Hale-Bopp also had two tails, whereas Hyakutake only had one (visible). that is also one way to determine whether you saw Hale-Bopp or not. Hyakutake's characteristic feature was that it had a distinctive greenish head.
Hyakutake comet looked like this: