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The Chinese records are not only the most extensive from ancient times, they are also the most accurate, often to within half a degree of right ascension. Western measurements did not overtake them for accuracy until the fifteenth century: in 1456 AD Paolo Toscanelli tracked the progress of Halley's Comet to within a fraction of a degree. [3]
The arrows could hit animals or people and were feared when walking at night. Comets were conceived as smoking stars and as bad omens, e.g., announcing the death of a ruler. [9] Ancient Chinese records of comet apparitions have been particularly useful to modern astronomers. They are accurate, extensive, and consistent over three millennia.
The Great Comet of 372–371 BC (sometimes Aristotle's Comet) was a comet that was observed by Aristotle, [1] Ephorus, [2] and Callisthenes. [3] Ephorus reported that it split into two pieces, [ 2 ] a larger fragment that is thought to have possibly returned in 1106 AD , as X/1106 C1 , [ 4 ] and another smaller fragment.
New research finds that the dark silicate glass strewn across a vast swath of the Atacama Desert was created by an exploding comet around 12,000 years ago. (Image/P.H. Schultz, Brown University)
Scientists in Germany have observed a comet-like object in a distant galaxy that is similar in composition to the famed Halley's comet -- just a LOT bigger. Astronomers discover comet 100,000 ...
The confirmation of the comet's return was the first time anything other than planets had been shown to orbit the Sun. [36] It was also one of the earliest successful tests of Newtonian physics, and a clear demonstration of its explanatory power. [37] The comet was first named in Halley's honour by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in ...
Periodic comets usually have elongated elliptical orbits, and usually return to the vicinity of the Sun after a number of decades. The official names of non-periodic comets begin with a "C"; the names of periodic comets begin with "P" or a number followed by "P". Comets that have been lost or disappeared have names with a "D". Comets whose ...
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