Great Comet of 1843
Semi-major axis 78 AU[1] | | |
Eccentricity | 0.99993[1] | |
---|---|---|
Orbital period | 600–800? yr[2] | |
Max. orbital speed | 566.6 km/s[3] | |
Inclination | 144.4° | |
Last perihelion | February 27, 1843 | |
Next perihelion | unknown |
The Great Comet of 1843,
Perihelion
First observed in early February, 1843, it raced toward an incredibly close
Perihelion (Sun approach) |
Earth distance (AU) |
Sun centerpoint distance (AU) |
Velocity relative to Earth (km/s) |
Velocity relative to Sun (km/s) |
Solar elongation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
27 February 1843 ≈21:59 | 0.993 LD ) |
0.00553 AU (827 thousand km; 514 thousand mi; 2.15 LD) | 552.4 | 566.6 | 0.29° |
Tail
The Great Comet of 1843 developed an extremely long tail during and after its
Orbit
Estimates for the orbital period of the comet have varied from 512 ± 105 years (Kreutz's classical work from 1901),[2] 654 ± 103 years (Chodas2008 unforced solution),[2] 687 years (JPL Horizons barycentric epoch 1900 solution),[1] and 742 years (Chodas2008 forced solution based on a presumed identity with X/1106 C1).[2] But the comet was only observed over a period of 45 days from March 5 to April 19, and the uncertainties mean it likely has an orbital period of 600 to 800 years.[2]
Musical depiction
The Mexican composer Luis Baca composed a waltz for piano, El cometa de 1843. It appeared as no. 13 in Instructor filarmónico, periódico semanario musical, Tomo primero (Mexico, 1843)
See also
References
- ^ barycenter(Sun+Jupiter). Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
WARNING: Orbit is probably very poorly determined
**PR= 2.51E+05 / 365.25 = 687 years** - ^ doi:10.1086/592081.
- ^ a b "Horizons Batch for C/1843 D1 on 1843-Feb-27" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
- ^ a b Donald K. Yeomans (April 2007). "Great Comets in History". Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology (Solar System Dynamics). Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ "Great Comets in History". Archived from the original on 2004-08-22. Retrieved 2006-02-07.
External links
- "Der Komet" in Illustrite Zeitung, 1843 (German with 1 drawing)
- C/1843 D1 at the JPL Small-Body Database
- Orlon Petterson, "Great Comets in History" (Accessed 2/7/06)
- Donald Yeomans, "Great Comets in History" (Accessed 7/21/08)
- C/1843 D1 (Great March Comet), cometography.com
- "Saw a comet star ablazing..." Log of the New Bedford whaling ship Washington, March 6, 1843, Nantucket Historical Association
- Instructor filarmónico, periòdico semanario musical, Tomo primero, page 53; digitized by the Gaylord Music Library, Washington University in St. Louis