Great Comet of 371 BC

The Great Comet of 372–371 BC was a bright comet that is thought to possibly be the source of the Kreutz sungrazer family.[1][2]

The Great Comet was observed by Aristotle,[3] Ephorus,[4] and Callisthenes.[5] Ephorus reported that it split into two pieces:[4] a larger fragment that is thought to have possibly returned in 1106 AD, as X/1106 C1,[6] as well as another much smaller fragment. If it was the source of all Kreutz sungrazers observed up to date, it must have had a nucleus exceeding 120 km in diameter.[5]

Observations

It was reported to have had a long, bright tail that had a reddish colour, as well as a nucleus brighter than any star in the night sky.[5]

Aristotle wrote in Book 1 of Meteorologica[7]

The great comet, which appeared about the time of the earthquake in Achaea and the tidal wave, rose in the west... The great comet... appeared during winter in clear frosty weather in the west, in the archonship of Asteius: on the first night it was not visible as it set before the sun did, but it was visible on the second, being the least distance behind the sun that would allow it to be seen, and setting immediately. Its light stretched across a third of the sky in a great band, as it were, and so was called a path. It rose as high as Orion’s belt, and there disappeared.

Quoting a lost source, Diodorus Siculus wrote that:[3]

[T]here was seen in the heavens during the course of many nights a great blazing torch which was named from its shape a flaming beam...this torch had such brilliancy...and its light such strength that it cast shadows on the earth similar to those cast by the moon.

See also

References
  1. Marsden B.G. (1967), "The Sungrazing Comet Group", The Sungrazing Comet Group I, The Astronomical Journal, vol. 72, p. 1170, Bibcode:1967AJ.....72.1170M, doi:10.1086/110396
  2. Marsden B.G. (1989), "The Sungrazing Comet Group II", The Sungrazing Comet Group II, The Astronomical Journal, vol. 98, p. 2306, Bibcode:1989AJ.....98.2306M, doi:10.1086/115301
  3. David A.J. Seargent (2008), "The Great Comet of (ca.) 372 B.C., Aristotle's Comet", The Greatest Comets in History, Springer Science & Business Media, ISBN 9780387095134
  4. Donald K. Yeomans (1998). "Great Comets in History". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  5. England, K. J. (2002). "Early Sungrazer Comets" (PDF). Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 112: 13. Bibcode:2002JBAA..112...13E.
  6. Williams, John (1871). Observations of Comets: From 611 B.C. to A.D.1640 : Extracted from the Chinese annals. Royal Astronomical Society. Science and Technology. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  7. Aristotle, Meteorology, archived from the original on 2004-04-05

Further reading
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