[1] During perihelion the comet had a minimum solar elongation of 6.4° and as a result of forward scattering reached a peak apparent magnitude of −3.

[4] The New York Times, however, reported on March 2, 1976 that West was "a comet that may prove one of the brightest in this decade" and would be "visible to the unaided eye.

Before the perihelion passage, and using 28 positions obtained between 1975 August 10 and 1976 January 27, Comet West was estimated to have an orbital period of about 254,000 years.

Astronomer Steven O'Meara, using the 9-inch Harvard Refractor, reported that two additional fragments had formed on the morning of 18 March.

More recently, comets Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 (73P), C/1999 S4 LINEAR, and 57P/du Toit-Neujmin-Delporte, have been observed to split or disintegrate during their passage close to the Sun.