Comet Kohoutek

Comet Kohoutek was first sighted on March 7, 1973 by Czech astronomer Lubos Kohoutek[?]. It attained perihelion on December 26, 1973.

Kohoutek was hyped by the media as the "comet of the century", but gave a poor display and was considered a letdown, leading some to nickname it "Comet Watergate".

The band R.E.M. wrote a song about the comet, "Kohoutek", which appeared on the 1985 album Fables of the Reconstruction.