[FOTZeiss] Fw: Comet Halley seen by Ancient Greeks?

[Glenn A. Walsh]

FYI

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < siderostat1989 at yahoo.com >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: 
  < http://andrewcarnegie.tripod.com > 
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://incline.pghfree.net >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >


--- On Fri, 9/10/10, John McMahon <mcmahon at LEMOYNE.EDU> wrote:

> From: John McMahon <mcmahon at LEMOYNE.EDU>
> Subject: Did the Greek see Halley?
> To: HASTRO-L at listserv.wvu.edu
> Date: Friday, September 10, 2010, 12:05 PM
> Apologies for cross-posting ...
> 
> BBC 9/10/10:
> 
> "Halley's comet 'was spotted by the ancient Greeks'"
>  
> "A celestial event seen by the ancient Greeks may be the
> earliest sighting
> of Halley's comet, new evidence suggests.
> 
> According to ancient writers, a large meteorite smacked
> into northern Greece
> between 466BC and 467BC.
>  
> The writers also described a comet in the sky at the time
> the meteorite fell
> to Earth, but this detail has received little attention,
> say the
> researchers.
>  
> Comet Halley would have been visible for about 80 days in
> 466BC, researchers
> write in the Journal of Cosmology.
>  
> New Scientist magazine reports that, until now, the
> earliest probable
> sighting of the comet was an orbit in 240BC, an event
> recorded by Chinese
> astronomers.
>  
> If the new findings are confirmed, the researchers will
> have pushed back the
> date of the first observation of Comet Halley by 226
> years.
>  
> The latest idea is based on accounts by ancient authors and
> concerns a
> meteorite that is said to have landed in the Hellespont
> region of northern
> Greece in 466-467BC.
>  
> The space rock fell during daylight hours and was about the
> size of 'a wagon
> load', according to ancient sources."
> 
> More:
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11255168
> 
> Direct link to article:
> 
> http://journalofcosmology.com/AncientAstronomy106.html
> 
> JMM / LMC
>