.jpg) A painting of the Great Comet of 1843, as seen fromTasmania, byMary Morton Allport | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovery date | 5 February 1843 |
| Designations | |
| 1843 I | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Observation arc | 45 days |
| Number of observations | 200 |
| Orbit type | Kreutz sungrazer |
| Aphelion | 156AU[1] |
| Perihelion | 0.00553 AU (1.19 R☉)[2][a] |
| Semi-major axis | 78 AU[1] |
| Eccentricity | 0.99993[1] |
| Orbital period | 600–800?yr[3] |
| Max.orbital speed | 566.6 km/s[2] |
| Inclination | 144.4° |
| Last perihelion | 27 February 1843[2] |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 24.75 km (15.38 mi)[4] |
| Mass | 7.30×1017 kg[5] |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 4.9[6] |
TheGreat Comet of 1843,formally designatedC/1843 D1 and1843 I, was along-period comet which became very bright in March 1843 (it is also known as theGreat March Comet). It was discovered on February 5, 1843, and rapidly brightened to become agreat comet. It was a member of theKreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets resulting from the breakup of a parent comet (X/1106 C1) into multiple fragments in about 1106. These comets pass extremely close to the surface of theSun—within a few solar radii—and often become very bright as a result.
First observed in early February, 1843, it raced toward an incredibly closeperihelion of about 827,000 km (~132,000 km from the surface of the Sun) on February 27, 1843;[a] at this time it was observed in broad daylight roughly adegree away from theSun.[7] It passed closest to Earth on March 6, 1843, at a distance of 0.84 AU,[7] and was at its greatest brilliance the following day; unfortunately for observers north of theequator, at its peak it was best visible from theSouthern Hemisphere.[8] It was last observed on April 19, 1843. At that time this comet had passed closer to the Sun than any other known object.
| Perihelion (Sun approach) | Earth distance (AU) | Sun centerpoint distance (AU) | Velocity relative to Earth (km/s) | Velocity relative to Sun (km/s) | Solar elongation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 February 1843 ≈21:59 | 0.993 AU (148.6 million km; 92.3 million mi; 386 LD) | 0.00553 AU (827 thousand km; 514 thousand mi; 2.15 LD) | 552.4 | 566.6 | 0.29° |
The Great Comet of 1843 developed an extremely long tail during and after itsperihelion passage. At over twoastronomical units in length, it was the longest known cometary tail until measurements in 1996 showed thatComet Hyakutake's tail was almost twice as long. There is a painting in theNational Maritime Museum that was created by astronomerCharles Piazzi Smyth with the purpose of showing the overall brightness and size of the tail of the comet.
Estimates for theorbital period of the comet have varied from512±105 years (Kreutz's classical work from 1901),[3]654±103 years (Chodas2008 unforced solution),[3] 687 years (JPL Horizons barycentric epoch 1900 solution),[1] and 742 years (Chodas2008 forced solution based on a presumed identity with X/1106 C1).[3] But the comet was only observed over a period of 45 days from March 5 to April 19, and the uncertainties mean it likely has an orbital period of 600 to 800 years.[3]
The Mexican composerLuis Baca composed a waltz for piano,El cometa de 1843. It appeared as no. 13 inInstructor filarmónico, periódico semanario musical, Tomo primero (Mexico, 1843)
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