Great Comet of 1744 on a map of the sky, illustration. This comet was discovered independently in late November 1743 by Jan de Munck, in the second week of December by Dirk Klinkenberg, and, four days later, by Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux. It became visible with the naked eye for several months in 1744. It was especially notable for developing a 'fan' of six tails after reaching its perihelion. Its official designation is C/1743 X, and it is also known as also known as Comet de Cheseaux or Comet Klinkenberg-Cheseaux. Comets are icy bodies from the outer solar system that boil and form a bright tail of gas and dust as they approach the Sun.