The Greatest Comets in History: Broom Stars and Celestial Scimitars (Astronomers' Universe)

Comets have fascinated and awed humankind since ancient times. Of the thousands of comets recorded throughout history, those deemed to have been the most spectacular have been described in the accounts of eyewitnesses and often recorded in official documents. This book introduces you to the greatest of the greats, starting with the comet in 372 B. C. called "Aristotle’s Comet" and ending with the spectacular appearance of McNaught’s Comet in 2007. There is an introductory chapter explaining what comets are and how they are classified, and correcting a few popular misconceptions. Later in the book you will read about the different returns of Halley’s Comet and the Kreutz sungrazing group, often called the kamikaze comets. There is even a chapter on comets that were visible in broad daylight. This book is unique. There are a few books on comets that make passing reference to some of the more famous or spectacular objects of the past, and a few catalogs with long lists of comets. But little detailed and descriptive information is contained in either of these sources. This is a fascinating account, not only for astronomers at every level but also for readers of popular science. In an engaging way it pulls together a vast amount of information and offers rich anecdotal material that will entertain as well as inform you. Cover 1 Astronomer’s Universe 2 The Greatest Comets in History 4 Preface 7 Acknowledgments 12 Contents 13 About the Author 17 The Nature of Comets 18 Introduction 18 The Tails of Comets 25 Features Within Dust Tails 30 The Brightness of Comets 34 The Motions of Comets 39 Halley’s Comet Through the Ages 48 240 B.C. 54 164 B.C. 54 87 B.C. 55 12 B.C. 55 66 A.D. 56 141 56 218 57 295 57 374 57 451 58 530 58 607 59 684 60 760 61 837 61 912 62 989 63 1066 63 1145 64 1222 65 1301 66 1378 67 1456 67 1531 68 1607 68 1682 69 1759 70 1835 70 1910 72 1986 76 The Greatest Comets of Ancient Times 82 The Great Comet of (ca.) 372 B.C., Aristotle’s Comet 83 Comet 135 B.C. (X/-134 N1), ‘‘Mithridates Comet’’ 86 44 B.C. (C/-43 K1), ‘‘Caesar’s Comet’’ 88 Comet 178 A.D. 93 Comet 191 94 Comet 252 94 Comet C/390 Q1 95 Comet C/400 F1 96 Comet C/418 M1 97 Comet 467 100 Comet X/676 P1 100 Comet C/770 K1 101 Comet X/838 V1 102 Comet X/891 J1 103 Comet 893 103 Comet C/905 K1 104 The Greatest Comets from A.D. 1000 to 1800 107 Comet X/1106 C1 107 Comet C/1132 T1 110 Comet C/1147 A1 111 Comet C/1264 N1 112 Comet C/1402 D1 115 Comet C/1471 Y1 118 Comet C/1577 V1 120 Comet C/ 1582 J1 125 Comet C/1618 W1 126 Comet C/1680 V1 128 Comet C/1743 X1 132 Comet C/1769 P1 (Messier) 137 The Greatest Comets from 1800 to Present Times 141 Comet C/1811 F1 (Flaugergues) 144 Comet C/1858 L1 (Donati) 147 Comet C/1861 J1 (Tebbutt) 152 Comet C/1910 A1 158 Comet C/1927 X1 (Skjellerup- Maristany) 162 Comet C/1975 V1 (West) 168 Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) 173 Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) 182 Comet C/2006 P1 (NcNaught) 194 Kamikaze Comets: The Kreutz Sungrazers 207 How Many Kreutz Comets Are There? 212 Possible Early Sungrazers 214 214 B.C. 214 A.D. 133 214 302 215 423 215 852 215 943 215 1034 216 1232 216 X/1381 V1 216 C/1668 E1 216 C/1689 X1 217 C/1695 U1 217 X/1702 D1 218 Undisputed Sungrazers 218 The ‘‘Minor’’ Objects 218 C/1880 C1 218 C/1887 B1 220 C/1945 X1 (du Toit) 222 C/1963 R1 (Pereyra) 222 C/1970 K1 (White-Ortiz-Bolelli) 223 The Greatest Sungrazers 224 C/1843 D1 224 C/1882 R1 227 C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) 235 Daylight Comets 241 185 B.C. 244 182 B.C. 244 104 B.C. 244 44 B.C. (C/-43 K1) 245 15 245 302 245 363 245 1077 245 1066 1P/Halley 246 C/1106 C1 246 1222 1P/Halley 246 C/1402 D1 246 C/1471 Y1 246 1539 246 1564 246 C/1577 V1 247 1587 247 1625 247 1630 247 1643 247 1644 247 1647 247 1648 248 1665 248 C/1680 V1 248 C/1743 X1 248 1774 248 1792 248 1839 248 C/1843 D1 249 C/1847 C1 (Hind) 249 C/1853 L1 (Klinkerfues) 249 C/1858 L1 (Donati) 249 C/1861 J1 (Tebbutt) 249 1865 250 C/1882 F1 (Wells) 250 C/1882 S1 250 1882 250 X/1896 S1 250 C/1901 G1 251 C/1910 A1 251 1P/Halley 251 1921 252 C/1927 X1 (Skjellerup-Maristany) 252 C/1947 X1 252 C/1948 V1 253 C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) 254 C/1973 E1 (Kohoutek) 254 C/1975 V1 (West) 254 C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) 254 C/1998 J1 (SOHO) 255 C/2006 P1 (McNaught) 255 Glossary 256 Further Reading 258 Appendix 259 Name Index 262 Subject Index 267 Naked-eye comets are far from uncommon. As a rough average, one appears every 18 months or thereabouts, and it is not very unusual to see more than two in a single year. The record so far seems to have been 2004, with a total of five comets visible without optical aid. But 2006, 1970, and 1911 were not far behind with a total of four apiece. Yet, the majority of these pass unnoticed by the general public. Most simply look like fuzzy stars with tails that are either faint or below the naked-eye threshold. The ‘classical’ comet – a bright star-like object with a long flowing tail – is a sight that graces our skies about once per decade, on average. These ‘great comets’ are surely among the most beautiful objects that we can see in the heavens, and it is no wonder that they created such fear in earlier times. Just what makes a comet ‘‘great’’ is not easy to define. It is neither just about brightness nor only a matter of size. Some comets can sport prodigiously long tails and yet not be regarded as great. Others can become very bright, but hardly anyone other than a handful of enthusiastic astronomers will ever see them. Much depends on their separation from the Sun, the intensity of the tail, and so forth.

The Greatest Comets of History is unique. There are a few books on comets that make passing reference to some of the famous and spectacular objects of earlier years, and a few descriptive catalogues are available, but little detailed descriptive information is contained in either of these sources. This book fills the vacant niche that exists between general books, academic (and often cryptic) catalogues, and huge detailed catalogues such as Kronk’s Cometography. The Greatest Comets of History is a detailed descriptive account – in non-technical language – of what are deemed to have been the most spectacular and notable comets ever recorded, beginning with ‘Aristotle’s Comet’ of 372 BC and ending with McNaught’s Comet of 2007. Halley’s Comet is given a separate chapter and there is an introductory chapter on comets in general, explaining in lay terms what they are and correcting a few popular misconceptions. This is not only a fascinating read for astronomers at every level, but in pulling together a vast amount of information previously available only in disparate academic sources it is a major contribution to the literature.

Front Matter....Pages 1-16 The Nature of Comets....Pages 1-30 Halley’s Comet Through the Ages....Pages 1-34 The Greatest Comets of Ancient Times....Pages 1-25 The Greatest Comets from A.D. 1000 to 1800....Pages 1-34 The Greatest Comets from 1800 to Present Times....Pages 1-66 Kamikaze Comets: The Kreutz Sungrazers....Pages 1-34 Daylight Comets....Pages 1-15 Back Matter....Pages 1-17