Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ikeya-Zhang Cometh

Posted by michael on from the flee-whilst-you-still-can dept.

nefertari writes: "It seems that comet Ikeya-Zhang will brighten a lot. A recent picture is today's APOD. Currently he should be visible in the evening, but from April on, you can watch him in the morning." We had an earlier story on this comet and several people posted good links.

1 of 9 comments (clear)

  1. Historical Note: by Nyphur · · Score: 3, Interesting
    It is interesting to note that the comet was seen over 340 years ago by people who weren't quite sure what it was and was marked down as a "bright light in the sky". So we see that on it's last passing near earth's orbit in 1661 it was visible to the naked eye just as it is now. At that time it was also recorded as a very bright comet by the scientific coomunity which existed at the time, but to the leity it was seen as a "sign from God".

    I belive it was seen during a war, but I never listened when i did History at school. What war was it, if there was a war at the time at all?

    --