Sightings of the Times: The Comet of 1097 AD (original) (raw)
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Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage 25 (2), 2022
A re-examination of early and late medieval annals and chronicles from Eastern and Western countries has enabled computation of approximate orbits for two medieval comets: X/839 B1 and X/841 Y1, which appeared soon after the return of Comet 1P/Halley in 837. Furthermore, a historical and comparative study of ninth-century annals and chronicles from both Eastern and Western countries has highlighted interesting similarities in the way comets were treated in Continental Europe and in early China. For both cultures the crossing of a bright comet in the sky was interpreted as a prefiguration of political turmoil, moral downfall and a reflection of bad kingship.
The Great Comet of 1264 AD In Rock Art: Two Views from North America
Antrocom Journal of Anthropology, 2023
Almost all prehistoric rock art in North America can be relatively dated by style, motif, scientific methods (e.g. carbon dating of organic pigments used in pictographs), oral traditions or, in other cases, the archaeological process. Absolute dates, however, are rare to non-existent. This dilemma tentatively changed with the discovery of a comet pictograph in New Mexico and subsequent investigation led by a team from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Their determination was that the pictograph firmly depicted the Great Comet of 1264 AD. It remained a sole rarity until almost a decade later when serendipity played a role while attending the 2022 Eastern States Rock Art and Research Association conference in St. Louis. During an afternoon presentation, it was learned that, in Pennsylvania, there is a petroglyph of what is unambiguously a comet pecked into a boulder resting midstream of the nearly mile-wide Lower Susquehanna River. Almost more remarkable is that this image may well represent the same comet, i.e. the Great Comet of 1264 AD. Furthermore, because the comet nucleus is depicted near or in conjunction with a waning crescent moon at both sites, the event depicted in the rock art images by two eye witnesses, though separated by 1700 miles, can be dated to the early to late morning of August 17, 1264 AD.
--grahau tāmrāruṇa śikhau prajvalantāv iva sthitau (MBh 6.3.24) The description by Vyāsa in the following skymap observations; clearly refers to grahau 'two comets' (sons of ) bṛhaspatiśanaiścarau. It will be an absurdity to find them as planets in the context of the dates related to the statement. The date is 3067 BCE. 24 grahau tāmrāruṇa śikhau prajvalantāv iva sthitau saptarṣīṇām udārāṇāṃ samavacchādya vai prabhām 25 saṃvatsarasthāyinau ca grahau prajvalitāv ubhau viśākhayoḥ samīpasthau bṛhaspatiśanaiścarau (MBh. 6.3.24,25) This is Kisari Mohan Ganguly translation (elucidation): The effulgence of the constellation known by the name of the seven high-souled Rishis, hath been dimmed. Those two blazing planets, viz., Vrihaspati and Sani, having approached the constellation called Visakha, have become stationary there for a whole year. Three lunations twice meeting together in course of the same lunar fortnight, the duration of the latter is shortened by two days. On the thirteenth day therefore, from the first lunation, according as it is the day of the full moon or the new moon, the moon and the sun are afflicted by Rahu. Such strange eclipses, both lunar and solar, forebode a great slaughter. (This sloka is omitted in many editions, though it is certainly genuine. I have rendered it very freely, as otherwise it would be unintelligible. The fact is, three lunations twice meeting together in course of the same lunar fortnight is very rare. The lunar-fortnight (Paksha) being then reduced by two days, the day of full-moon or that of new moon, instead of being (as usual) the fifteenth day from the first lunation becomes the thirteenth day. Lunar-eclipses always occur on days of the full-moon, while solar-eclipses on those of the new moon. Such eclipses, therefore, occurring on days removed from the days of the first lunation by thirteen instead of (as usual) fifteen days, are very extraordinary occurrences.) All the quarters of the earth, being overwhelmed by showers of dust, look inauspicious. Fierce clouds, portentous of danger, drop bloody showers during the night. Rahu of fierce deeds is also, O monarch, afflicting the constellation Kirtika. Rough winds, portending fierce danger, are constantly blowing. All these beget a war characterised by many sad incidents. In Narahari Achar's explanation for the word 'planets' read 'comets' because they are described to be 'blazing' and with tāmrāruṇa śikhau. No planet has 'hairs', only comets have; consistent with the meaning in Greek. The word 'comet' comes from the ancient Greek word 'kometes, meaning 'long haired star'. Kalyan Excerpts from Fascinating Planets -- German Aerospace Center Comets are a rare celestial spectacle. They only appear in the sky a few times over the course of a human life. And yet anyone who has seen a comet will likely never forget such an astronomical event. The myth of comets Comets are called hairy stars, from the Ancient Greek word κόμη (kómē), meaning a head of hair. They are rare, yet impressive, occasionally fascinating phenomena in the sky. Unlike the familiar Moon and the planets passing in front of the band of the Milky Way, comets are characterised by a diffuse point of light from which the tail they are famous for emanates. So it was without a doubt that a greater significance would be placed on comets. In the history of humanity, they have generally been associated with approaching calamity. Their unpredictable appearances embodied disruption in the divine order of the world. So it is no wonder that our ancestors saw something mystical in comets – harbingers of war and catastrophe, plagues, famine and revolution. They symbolised unpredictability and sinisterness. This applied to almost every culture, even in the oldest significant document on a comet in Western civilisation, dating back to the twelfth century BC, when Nebuchadnezzar I reigned in Babylon: "When a comet reaches the path of the Sun, Gan-ba will be diminished; an uproar will happen twice." But even in the Age of Enlightenment, the comet’s tail was considered to be a divine rod of discipline in many places, associated with punishment and penance. Today, of course, people tend to have more positive thoughts in the event of the rare, exciting appearance of a comet. The picture that they create in the night sky is special – a sign of the diversity of our cosmic home and of its beauty.