Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Records of Sightings of Comets from the Literature


Affiliations
1 Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, High Grounds, Bengaluru 560 001, India
 

In pursuit of observational records of comets we search Rajatarangini, a chronicle from Kashmir, which has a wealth of records on natural phenomenon like earthquakes and famine. The study reveals records of sightings of comets and we identify them based on description and with the help of associated dates and eclipse records. We find that there are records of a pair of eclipses and at least two comets apart from the apparitions of Comet Halley in 1470 and 1531 CE.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Dutt, J. C., Kings of Káshmíra, Trübner & Co., 1879.
  • Dutt, J. C., Kings of Kashmira, a Translation of Rajatarangini Vols II and III, I.C. Bose and Co, Calcutta, 1894.
  • Narlikar, J. V. and Bhate, S., IJHS, 2001, 36(3–4), 171–202.
  • Stein, M. A., ‘Chronological and Dynastic Tables of Kalhana’s Record of Kasmir Kings’, Kalhana’s Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kasmir, Motilal Banarsidass, 1979 [1900].
  • Democritus, The Petitioning of Comets or a Brief Chronology of all the Famous Comets, Google Books, 1681.
  • Mather, I., A Discourse Concerning Comets, Earthquakes, Famines and Wars, Google Books, 1683.
  • Kak, S. C., Three Interesting 15th and 16th Century Comet Sightings in Kashmiri Chronicles, 26 September 2003; arXiv:physics/0309113v1 [physics.hist-ph].
  • Salje, W., Kingship in Kashmir, From the Pen of Jonaraja, Court Pandit to Sultan Zayn at Abidin, Universitiesverlag, Halle-Wittensburg, 2014.
  • Asher, D. et al., Astron. Astrophys., 2002, 43(2), 91–92.
  • Singh, R., Hindi Translation and Notes of Jain – Rajatarangaini, Chowkambha Amarbharathi Prakashan Varanan, 1977.
  • https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEsearchmap.php?Ecl=14730427

Abstract Views: 194

PDF Views: 79




  • Records of Sightings of Comets from the Literature

Abstract Views: 194  |  PDF Views: 79

Authors

B. S. Shylaja
Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, High Grounds, Bengaluru 560 001, India

Abstract


In pursuit of observational records of comets we search Rajatarangini, a chronicle from Kashmir, which has a wealth of records on natural phenomenon like earthquakes and famine. The study reveals records of sightings of comets and we identify them based on description and with the help of associated dates and eclipse records. We find that there are records of a pair of eclipses and at least two comets apart from the apparitions of Comet Halley in 1470 and 1531 CE.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv114%2Fi11%2F2392-2395