Great Comet of 371 BC explained

The Great Comet of 372–371 BC (sometimes Aristotle's Comet) was a comet that is thought to possibly be the source of the Kreutz sungrazer family.

The Great Comet was observed by Aristotle, Ephorus,^[1] and Callisthenes.^[2] Ephorus reported that it split into two pieces, a larger fragment that is thought to have possibly returned in 1106 AD, as X/1106 C1,^[3] and another smaller fragment. While visible from Earth, it was said to have cast shadows at night comparable to a full moon.

Observations

The comet 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.

Aristotle wrote in Book 1 of Meteorologica

Quoting a lost source, Diodorus Siculus wrote that

Effect on prophecy

Diodorus wrote that the comet was believed by some to have foretold the decline of the Spartans, and describes the debate over its nature.^[4]

Dispute over date

See also: List of state leaders in the 4th century BC and Parian Chronicle.

The comet is sometimes referred to as occurring during 373-372 BC instead of 372-371 BC. Seneca wrote later that the sightings of the comet coincided with the destruction of Buris and Helice, suggesting a date of 373-372 BC.

Most sources refer to it as occurring in 372-371 BC. Göran Henriksson writes:^[5]

Source of other comets

See also: Heinrich Kreutz and Kreutz Sungrazers. Heinrich Kreutz was a German astronomer,^[6] who claimed that the orbits of several sungrazing comets were related and likely produced when a large Sun-grazing comet fragmented hundreds of years previously. The group is now known as the Kreutz Sungrazers, and has produced some of the brightest comets ever seen, including X/1106 C1 and Comet Ikeya–Seki. The comet may have been the progenitor of the entire group. If it was the source of all Kreutz sungrazers, it must have had a nucleus of at least 120 km in diameter.

Astronomer Goran Henriksson has speculated that the comet was Comet Encke, although this is not widely accepted.

Seneca's arguments against Euphorus

Based on the ancient Greek belief that comets were the source of celestial objects, Seneca challenged the report of Euphorus.^[7]

See also

• List of Kreutz Sungrazers
• List of comets
• Heinrich Kreutz
• X/1106 C1
• Meteorology (Aristotle)
• Naturales quaestiones
• Solar and Heliospheric Observatory

Further reading

• Marsden B. G. (1989), The Sungrazing Comets Revisited, Asteroids, comets, meteors III, Proceedings of meeting (AMC 89), Uppsala: Universitet, 1990, eds C. I. Lagerkvist, H. Rickman, B. A. Lindblad., p. 393
• 10.5140/JASS.2007.24.3.227. Lee. Sugeun. Yi, Yu . Kim, Yong Ha . Brandt, John C. . 2007. Distribution of Perihelia for SOHO Sungrazing Comets and the Prospective Groups. Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences. 24. 3. 227–234. 2007JASS...24..227L. free.

External links

• Sungrazer project website
• SEDS Kreutz group page
• Meteorology, translated by E. W. Webster (Alternate at mit.edu)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Great Comets in History. Donald K. Yeomans. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 1998. 2007-03-15.
2. Early Sungrazer Comets. England . K. J. . 2002 . Journal of the British Astronomical Association . 112 . 13 . 2002JBAA..112...13E.
3. Web site: Williams . John . Observations of Comets: From 611 B.C. to A.D.1640 : Extracted from the Chinese annals . Science and Technology . Royal Astronomical Society . 18 April 2014 . 1871.
4. Web site: Bibliotheca historica, Book XV . Siculus . Diodorus.
5. Web site: Aristotle, King David, King Zhou and Pharaoh Thutmosis III Have Seen Comet Encke. Henriksson. Göran.
6. Book: Hockey, Thomas . The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers . 2009 . . 978-0-387-31022-0 . August 22, 2012 .
7. Seneca the Younger, Naturales Quaestiones 7.16; (translated by John Clarke, 1910)