Great Comet of 1811
48th century | |
Physical characteristics | |
---|---|
Dimensions | 30−40 km[3] |
The Great Comet of 1811,
Discovery
The comet was discovered March 25, 1811 by
The first provisional orbit was computed in June by
Observations
From May to August, the comet's position made it difficult to spot because of its low altitude and the evening twilight. Both Flaugergues and Olbers were able to recover it in
By January 1812, the comet's brightness had faded. Several astronomers continued to obtain telescopic observations for some months, the last being Vincent Wisniewski at Novocherkassk, who noted it as barely reaching an apparent magnitude of 11 by August 12.[7]
The Great Comet of 1811 was thought to have had an exceptionally large coma, perhaps reaching over 1 million miles across—fifty percent larger than the Sun.
Astronomers also found the comet a memorable sight.
The comet was apparently visible during
Return
Before perihelion passage on September 12, 1811, the comet had an orbital period of about 2742 years. Computing the barycentric orbital period of the comet after perihelion passage when it is outside the planetary region (using an epoch of 2200) shows an orbital period of about 2974 years,[2] which would give a return year of around 4785.
Epoch 1600 |
Epoch 2200 | |
---|---|---|
Orbital period | 2742 yr | 2974 yr |
Orbital eccentricity | 0.9947 | 0.9950 |
Aphelion |
391 AU | 413 AU |
Allusions in culture
The Great Comet of 1811 seems to have had a particular impact on non-astronomers. The artists John Linnell and William Blake both witnessed it, the former producing several sketches and the latter possibly incorporating it in his famous panel The Ghost of a Flea.[12]
The English travel writer, novelist, and political economist Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) makes an odd reference to not seeing the comet in her Autobiography: "When the great comet of 1811 was attracting all eyes...[n]ight after night, the whole family of us went up to the long windows at the top of my father's warehouse; and the exclamations on all hands about the comet perfectly exasperated me,—because I could not see it!... Such is the fact; and philosophers may make of it what they may,—remembering that I was then nine years old, and with remarkably good eyes."[13]
In China, some leaders of the
At the midpoint of War and Peace, Tolstoy describes the character of Pierre observing this "enormous and brilliant comet [...] which was said to portend all kinds of woes and the end of the world".[15]: 363 The comet was popularly thought to have portended Napoleon's invasion of Russia (even being referred to as "Napoleon's Comet")[16] and the War of 1812, among other events. In the musical Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Pierre witnesses the comet.[17] When asked why the comet made it into the title of the show, the composer Dave Malloy responded "for cosmic epicness."[18]
The year 1811 turned out to be particularly fine for wine production, and merchants marketed "
The Great Comet is mentioned in Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz; and in Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.
The comet also acted as a divine source of revival for a dying hero in the Thomas Hardy novel Two on a Tower.
The Shawnee military leader Tecumseh, whose name was translated as "shooting star", claimed the appearance of the comet as a favorable omen during his mostly unsuccessful efforts that year to bring southern tribes into his pan-Native American alliance.[20]
References
- ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: C/1811 F1 (Great comet)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- ^ Barycenter. Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
For epoch 2200 we get PR= 1.08625E+06/365.25=2973.99 years - ^ a b Gary W. Kronk. "The Comet Primer". Cometography.com. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
- ^ Jean-Michel Faidit, "La comète impériale de 1811", Les Presses du Midi, 2012; Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander, Ueber die Bahn des grossen cometen von 1811, (Tr. Table of the path of the great comet of 1811) 4, Konigsberg, 1822.
- ^ Donald K. Yeomans (April 2007). "Great Comets in History". Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology (Solar System Dynamics).
- ^ The Comet of 44 B.C. and Caesar's Funeral Games (John T. Ramsey, A. Lewis Licht) pg 120
- ^ a b c Kronk, G. W., Cometography—C/1811 F1 (Great Comet), retrieved November 26, 2008.
- ^ Somerville, Martha (1874). Personal Recollections From Early Life To Old Age Of Mary Somerville. United Kingdom: John Murray. pp. 99–101.
- ISBN 0-521-64600-6.
- ISBN 0-521-58505-8.
- ^ Bradsby (1883), Perrin, William Henry (ed.), History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Chicago: O.L. Baskin & Co., p. 16.
- ISBN 0-521-66359-8.
- ISBN 978-1-55111-555-9.
- ISBN 978-0-415-21474-2.
- ^ Tolstoy, Leo (1949). War and Peace. Garden City: International Collectors Library.
- ^ Olson, Pasachoff & Pillinger 1999, p. 138.
- ^ Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812
- ^ "dave malloy on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
- ISBN 0-7503-0620-3.
- ^ "Tecumseh". National Park Service. 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2019-08-23.