Comet White–Ortiz–Bolelli (formal designations: C/1970 K1, 1970 VI, and 1970f) was a bright comet which appeared in 1970. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets which resulted from the break-up of a large parent comet several centuries ago. It was already easily visible to the naked eye when first discovered, and reached a maximum apparent magnitude of +1. Discovery Comet White–Ortiz–Bolelli was first spotted on May 16 by Albert and Ronald Snelgar on May 16 in Halls Creek WA, and then into the NT on successive nights. They advised the discovery to Halls Creek police (who disregarded the discovery). It was then officially discovered on May 18 by Graeme White, an Australian amateur astronomer in Wollongong, New South Wales. He sighted the comet in binoculars shortly after sunset, and described it as having a star-like head at apparent magnitude 1-2, and a short tail about 1 degree long. He spotted it again on May 20 by naked eye as well as binoculars, and by this time the tail had grown to 10° in length. The second independent discovery was made on May 21 by Air France pilot Emilio Ortiz, from a location about 400 km east of Madagascar. Ortiz saw the comet from his cockpit, and reported a magnitude of 0.5 to 1.0 and a tail about 5–8° long. A few hours later, Carlos Bolelli, a technician at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile became the third independent discoverer of the comet, although he saw only the tail, as the head was beneath the horizon. Subsequent observations Numerous independent discoveries were made in the days immediately following the comet's discovery, but astronomical naming conventions only allowed the comet to be given the names of the first three. All sightings of the comet were made from the southern hemisphere, due to the orientation of its orbit with respect to the Earth. Throughout the comet's brief appearance, it could only be seen low in the sky for a short time after sunset, but it was most easily visible on May 24. After that it faded rapidly, and by 1 June it had already faded to below naked-eye visibility. The last definite detection of the comet was made on June 7, when it appeared as a faint, ill-defined nebulosity. Increasing moonlight and the comet's decreasing brightness prevented any further visual sightings of the comet. A sungrazer The