Abstract
HALLEY's COMET IN 1456.—“This comet cannot exhibit a greater degree of brightness than when it passes the perihelion in the month of June j it may then be observed some days before perihelion; it is visible at perihelion itself, and, when it has passed that point, it continues to approach the earth, and its brightness consequently increases for some days.” In these terms Pingré introduces his account of the appearance of Halley's comet in 1456, when, from the vague notices in the European chronicles which were available to him, he fixed the perihelion passage on June 8 at 22h. 10m. Paris mean time. The comet was observed in China on the morning of May 27.
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 31, 588–589 (1885). https://doi.org/10.1038/031588a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/031588a0