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Records of Halley's comet on Babylonian tablets

Abstract

The late Babylonian texts in the British Museum are shown to contain probable observations of Halley's comet at both its 164 BC and 87 BC apparitions. These texts have important bearing on the orbital motion of the comet in the ancient past.

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Stephenson, F., Yau, K. & Hunger, H. Records of Halley's comet on Babylonian tablets. Nature 314, 587–592 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/314587a0

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