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Great Southern Comet of 1880

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C/1880 C1
(Great Southern Comet of 1880)
Illustration of the Great Comet of 1880 from a Scientific American article in May 1880[1]
Discovery
Discovery date1 February 1880
Designations
1880a[2]
1880 I
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch14 February 1880 (JD 2407759.5)
Observation arc5 days
Number of
observations		7
Orbit typeKreutz sungrazer
Aphelion0.0054 AU
Semi-major axis–520.91 AU
Eccentricity1.0000103
Avg. orbital speed575 km/s
Inclination144.759°
8.448°
Argument of
periapsis		86.685°
Last perihelion28 January 1880
Next perihelion2570
Earth MOID0.5541 AU
Jupiter MOID2.9694 AU
Physical characteristics[4]
3.0
(1880 apparition)

The Great Southern Comet of 1880, formally designated as C/1880 C1 in modern nomenclature, is a comet that became visible in the naked eye throughout the Southern hemisphere in February 1880. It is notable for being classified as a "great comet" not by its apparent magnitude, but by its prominent tail.

Discovery and observations

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The comet had no single discoverer, or at least none is known, since all of its initial observations were not first-hand reports. However, it is generally agreed that the comet was first seen on the evening of February 1, 1880 in Australia and New Zealand.[5] The first known sighting of the comet was recorded by Henry C. Russell, the director of the Sydney Observatory, when he received a message from "a certain gentleman living in the northern part of this colony", stating that he "was surprised by a bright streak of light, stretching from the horizon towards the South Pole".[6]

Orbit

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Approximate relationship of the largest members of the Kreutz Sungrazers. Note that the perihelion passage at which fragmentations occurred may not be well established

A study of the orbit of C/1880 C1 showed that it has essentially the same orbit as the Great Comet of 1843 and the Great September Comet of 1882. This led to some astronomers to believe that these were all appearances of the same comet that somehow had its orbit change significantly on each perihelion passage.[7] However, subsequent recalculations of their orbits show that this is not the case, as the orbital periods of these comets were found to be between 600 to 800 years in length.[8] In 1888, Heinrich Kreutz concluded that they were fragments of an earlier giant sungrazing comet that broken up several centuries prior.[9]

These comets, alongside Ikeya–Seki, White–Ortiz–Bolelli, and Lovejoy, are members of the Kreutz sungrazer group. It is thought that both C/1880 C1 and C/1887 B1 broke off directly from the Great Comet of 1843, about 100–150 days after the latter's previous perihelion passage sometime in the 11th century.[8][10] The comet's next perihelion passage could potentially take place by 2570.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "THE GREAT SOUTHERN COMET". Scientific American. 42 (19): 293. 8 May 1880. JSTOR 26073185.
  2. ^ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  3. ^ "C/1880 C1 (Great southern comet) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  4. ^ J. E. Bortle (1998). "The Bright Comet Chronicles". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  5. ^ G. W. Kronk (2003). Cometography: A Catalog of Comets. Vol. 2: 1800–1899. Cambridge University Press. p. 448. ISBN 0-521-58505-8.
  6. ^ H. C. Russell (April 1880). "Observations of the Great Southern Comet, 1880, made at the Observatory, Sydney" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 40 (6): 379. doi:10.1093/mnras/40.6.379.
  7. ^ B. G. Marsden (1967). "The Sungrazing Comet Group". The Astrophysical Journal. 40 (6): 379. Bibcode:1967AJ.....72.1170M. doi:10.1086/110396.
  8. ^ a b Z. Sekanina; P. Chodas (2002). "Fragmentation Origin of Major Sungrazing Comets C/1970 K1, C/1880 C1, and C/1843 D1". The Astrophysical Journal. 581 (2): 1389. doi:10.1086/344261.
  9. ^ H. C. F. Kreutz (1888). "Untersuchungen uber das comentesystem 1843 I, 1880 I und 1882 II" [Investigations into the comet system 1843 I, 1880 I and 1882 II.]. Kiel (in German). Bibcode:1888uudc.book.....K.
  10. ^ Z. Sekanina; P. Chodas (2004). "Fragmentation Hierarchy of Bright Sungrazing Comets and the Birth and Orbital Evolution of the Kreutz System. I. Two-Superfragment Model". The Astrophysical Journal. 607 (1): 620. Bibcode:2004ApJ...607..620S. doi:10.1086/383466.
  11. ^ A. Vitagliano. "SOLEX 12.1". solexorb.it. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
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