Great comet of 178
| 178 [i] | |
|---|---|
| Properties of the orbit | |
| Orbit type | parabolic |
| Numerical eccentricity | 1.0 |
| Perihelion | ~ 0.5 AU |
| Inclination of the orbit plane | ~ 18 ° |
| Perihelion | Early September 178 |
| history | |
| Explorer | |
| Date of discovery | September 178 |
| Source: Unless otherwise stated, the data comes from JPL Small-Body Database Browser . Please also note the note on comet articles . | |
The Great Comet of 178 is a comet that could be seen with the naked eye in 178 . He is counted among the " great comets ".
Discovery and observation
Little is known about the comet. In the Chinese chronicle Hòu Hàn Shū from the 5th century there is a report of a "broom star " that appeared sometime in September 178 in the constellation Virgo and extended into the constellation Snake . Its tail, initially one degree long, slowly developed to 50 ° to 60 ° in length and must have been a spectacular sight in the evening sky at the time . The tail was described as reddish, which indicates a very light dust tail. The comet could be observed with the naked eye for about 80 days before it passed out of sight in the constellation Eridanus .
“During the reign of the emperor Hàn Língdì (168–189), in the first year of the Guāng Hé (178–184) era, a broom star appeared on the eighth moon in the north of the heavenly region of Kàng. It reached into the middle of Tiān Shì. It was a cubit in length. It slowly increased in length to between 50 and 60 cubits. Its color was reddish. It wandered through 10 regions of the sky in the course of about 80 days and then disappeared in Tiān Yuàn. "
Orbit
According to uncertain calculations, which are attributed to John Russell Hind from the 19th century, the comet would have passed through its perihelion at the beginning of September 178 at a distance of about 0.5 AU from the sun . The inclination of the orbit would have been around 18 °.
If these calculations are reasonably correct, the comet could have got very close to Earth by mid-October , possibly up to 0.05 AU / 7.5 million km away, which would explain its great appearance. It would be one of the 15 closest comets to earth in historical times.
Due to the uncertain initial data, no statement can be made about whether and, if so, when the comet will return to the inner solar system .
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ AG Pingré: Cométographie ou Traité historique et théorique des comètes. Tome I. Imprimerie Royale, Paris 1783, pp. 294, 586 ( PDF; 56.49 MB ).
- ^ Gary W. Kronk : Cometography - A Catalog of Comets, Volume 1, Ancient - 1799. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-58504-0 , p. 42.
- ^ J. Williams: Observations of Comets, from BC 611 to AD 1640. Strangeways and Walden, London 1871, pp. 15-16 ( PDF, 20.93 MB ).
- ^ DAJ Seargent: The Greatest Comets in History: Broom Stars and Celestial Scimitars. Springer, New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-387-09512-7 , pp. 76-77.
- ↑ Historic Comet Close Approaches. NASA, accessed June 16, 2016 .