Great Comet of 1577

C/1577 V1
The Great Comet of 1577, seen over Prague on November 12. Engraving made by Jiri Daschitzky.
Discovery
Discovery date1 November 1577
Designations
Great Comet of 1577
Orbital characteristics[1]
Observation arc74 days
Number of
observations		24
Perihelion0.1775 AU
Eccentricity~1.000
Inclination104.883°
31.237°
Argument of
periapsis		255.673°
Last perihelion27 October 1577
Physical characteristics[2][3]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		–1.8
–3.0
(1577 apparition)

The Great Comet of 1577 (designated as C/1577 V1 in modern nomenclature)[4] is a non-periodic comet that passed close to Earth with first observation being possible in Peru on November 1 1577.[5] Final observation was made on January 26, 1578. [6] Tycho Brahe was one the most distinguished observers of this comet, making thousands of precise measurements about it. The observations made by Brahe led him to believe the comet was outside of the orbit of the sun and moon.[7] There were many independent observers of the comet from across the world.[8] Many had different explanations for the comet. Some, such as Sultan Murad III, saw the comet as an evil omen.[9] Others took a scientific approach, like Michael Mästlin who used the comet to fill gaps in Copernicus's model of the universe.[10] It inspired artists, like Jiri Dschitzky, who made an engraving of the comet as it passed over Prague.[11] Currently, using JPL Horizons, it is believed that the comet is 324 AU (48.5 billion km) from the sun.[12]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference jpl was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ M. Kidger (3 April 1997). "Comet Hale-Bopp Light Curve". jpl.nasa.gov. NASA / JPL. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2008.
  3. ^ D. K. Yeomans. "Great Comets of History". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  4. ^ "COMET NAMES AND DESIGNATIONS". www.icq.eps.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  5. ^ Kapoor, R. C. (2015). "Abū'l Faẓl, independent discoverer of the Great Comet of 1577". Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. 18 (3): 249–260. Bibcode:2015JAHH...18..249K. doi:10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2015.03.03. S2CID 209912868.
  6. ^ Hale, Alan (2020-11-08). "Comet of the Week: "Tycho Brahe's Comet" C/1577 V1". RocketSTEM. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  7. ^ Grant, p. 305
  8. ^ Moritz Valentin Steinmetz: Von dem Cometen welcher im November des 1577. Jars erstlich erschienen, und noch am Himmel zusehen ist, wie er von Abend und Mittag, gegen Morgen und Mitternacht zu, seinen Fortgang gehabt, Observirt und beschrieben in Leipzig ..., Gedruckt bey Nickel Nerlich Formschneider, 1577 [1] Archived 2015-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "The Story of the Two Astronomers Who Studied the Great Comet of 1577". Interesting Engineering. September 5, 2016.
  10. ^ Barker, P., & Goldstein, B. R. (2001). Theological foundations of Keplers astronomy. Ithaca, NY.
  11. ^ Robert S. Westman, "The Comet and the Cosmos: Kepler, Mästlin, and the Copernican Hypothesis", in The Reception of Copernicus' Heliocentric Theory: Proceedings of a Symposium Organized by the Nicolas Copernicus Committee of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science, Torun, Poland, 1973 (Springer, 1973), pp. 10 and 28. For a description and reproduction of Helisaeus Roeslin's diagram, see pp. 28–29 online.
  12. ^ NASA JPL Horizons ephemeris 2023-2030