History
It was discovered photographically by Richard M. West, of the European Southern Observatory, on August 10, 1975. The comet came to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on February 25, 1976. During perihelion the comet had a minimum solar elongation of 6.4° and as a result of forward scattering reached a peak brightness of -3. From February 25th through the 27th, observers reported that the comet was bright enough to study during full daylight.
Despite its spectacular appearance, Comet West went largely unreported in the popular media. This was partly due to the relatively disappointing display of Comet Kohoutek in 1973, which had been widely predicted to become extremely prominent: scientists were wary of making predictions that might raise public expectations.
Read more about this topic: Comet West
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