Item: i109082

Authentic Medal of:

United States of America
Comet Kohoutek
1973 Proof Copper Token Medal 38mm (24.27 grams)
Reference: SCI 73-33 (Franklin Mint)
COMMEMORATING THE COMING OF COMET KOHOUTEK 1973-1974, Comet heading towards Sun, Earth to right of inscription.
THE ALDER PLANETRAIUM, Planetraium facade.
Edge Lettering:
73 P

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Comet Kohoutek, formally designated C/1973 E1, 1973 XII, and 1973f, was first sighted on 7 March 1973 by Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek. It attained perihelion on 28 December that same year.

Comet Kohoutek is a long-period comet; its previous apparition was about 150,000 years ago, and its next apparition will be in about 75,000 years. At its apparition in 1973, it had a hyperbolic trajectory (e > 1) due to gravitational perturbations from giant planets. Due to its path, scientists theorized that Kohoutek was an Oort-cloud object. As such, it was believed that this was the comet’s first visit to the inner Solar System, which would result in a spectacular display of outgassing. Infrared and visual telescopic study have led many scientists to conclude, in retrospect, that Kohoutek is actually an Edgeworth/Kuiper-belt object, which would account for its apparent rocky makeup and lack of outgassing.

Before its close approach, Kohoutek was promoted by the media as the “comet of the century”. However, Kohoutek’s display was considered a let-down, possibly due to partial disintegration when the comet closely approached the Sun prior to its Earth flyby. Since this was probably the comet’s first visit to the inner Solar System, it would have still contained large amounts of frozen volatiles since its formation. Although it failed to brighten to the levels expected, it was still a naked-eye object. Its greatest visual magnitude was −3, when it was at perihelion, 0.14 AU (21,000,000 km; 13,000,000 mi) from the Sun. Its orbital inclination is 14.3°. Its best viewing was in the night sky after perihelion, when it had dimmed to fourth magnitude. The comet also sported a tail up to 25° long, along with an anti-tail.

Kohoutek was observed by the crews of Skylab 4 and Soyuz 13; it thus became the first comet to be observed by a crewed spacecraft, for Apollo 13’s planned observations of the prominent naked-eye Comet Bennett had been aborted by the Moon-bound craft’s oxygen-tank explosion.

C/1973 E1 should not be confused with the periodic comet 75D/Kohoutek, which can also be called “Comet Kohoutek”. In addition, there are another two long-period comets, C/1969 O1-A (a.k.a. 1970 III, 1969b), and C/1973 D1 (a.k.a. 1973 VII, 1973e) also discovered by Luboš Kohoutek.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km²), the United States is the world’s third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe’s 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km²). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital’s federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries.

Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848.

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