Comets :: Essays Papers

CometsWhat is Cometography? Cometography is a four-volume project I grow been solve on since the mid-1970s. Jump-started by comet Kohoutek of 1973-1974, I began researching comets and immediately found myself becoming more(prenominal) and more intrigued by them. It was fascinating to read about comets that unexpectedly split, brightened, or faded. There were alike interesting stories concerning the discovery circumstances of some comets, as well as tales about how comets affected cultures. As I act reading I found that, tail end in 1967, the International astronomical Union suggested that an streetwise descriptive catalogue of comets or cometography was needed. A committal was formed, but in 1970 it reported, according to the words of Brian Marsden, that it would be very tenuous to have a cometography, but that the effort required to produce much(prenominal) a catalog was greater than the members of the committee could devote to it. Thus began my enthusiasm to research and carry through Cometography, a set of books devoted to adequately presenting the dilate of every comet seen in recorded history. The last complete work of this type was written by Alexander Guy Pingre. His two volumes, called Cometographie, were published in 1783 and 1784, but be now greatly out of date. Not tho do they patently lack the comets seen between 1784 and the present, but much of the legitimate source solid has been retranslated over the years, so that Pingres work is now inexact in places. Since the time of Pingre, two other books have been published sensual Characteristics of Comets, by S. K. Vsekhsvyatskii in 1958, and Comets A Descriptive Catalog, by myself in 1984. twain of these books brought the 19th and twentieth century comets to readers, but in a air much more highly condensed than that of Pingre. They also only included those comets for which orbits had been computed. The Brobdingnagian portion of Pingres work included comets for which orbits could not be determined, some of which have since been identified as previous, though poorly spy, appearances of Halleys comet, periodic comet Swift-Tuttle, and periodic comet dArrest. Cometography brings back the lesser observed comets, with the intention of providing all necessary details that tycoon help next astronomers establish new comet identity links. To aid in the accuracy of Cometography I have tried to avoid Pingres books and the book of Vsekhsvyatskii.Comets Essays coverCometsWhat is Cometography? Cometography is a four-volume project I have been working on since the mid-1970s. Jump-started by comet Kohoutek of 1973-1974, I began researching comets and immediately found myself becoming more and more intrigued by them. It was fascinating to read about comets that unexpectedly split, brightened, or faded. There were also interesting stories concerning the discovery circumstances of some comets, as well as tales about how comets affected cult ures. As I continued reading I found that, back in 1967, the International Astronomical Union suggested that an up-to-date descriptive catalog of comets or cometography was needed. A committee was formed, but in 1970 it reported, according to the words of Brian Marsden, that it would be very nice to have a cometography, but that the effort required to produce such a catalog was greater than the members of the committee could devote to it. Thus began my inspiration to research and write Cometography, a set of books devoted to adequately presenting the details of every comet seen in recorded history. The last complete work of this type was written by Alexander Guy Pingre. His two volumes, called Cometographie, were published in 1783 and 1784, but are now greatly out of date. Not only do they obviously lack the comets seen between 1784 and the present, but much of the original source material has been retranslated over the years, so that Pingres work is now inaccurate in places. Since the time of Pingre, two other books have been published Physical Characteristics of Comets, by S. K. Vsekhsvyatskii in 1958, and Comets A Descriptive Catalog, by myself in 1984. Both of these books brought the 19th and 20th century comets to readers, but in a manner much more highly condensed than that of Pingre. They also only included those comets for which orbits had been computed. The vast portion of Pingres work included comets for which orbits could not be determined, some of which have since been identified as previous, though poorly observed, appearances of Halleys comet, periodic comet Swift-Tuttle, and periodic comet dArrest. Cometography brings back the lesser observed comets, with the intention of providing all necessary details that might help future astronomers establish new comet identity links. To aid in the accuracy of Cometography I have tried to avoid Pingres books and the book of Vsekhsvyatskii.