Synopses & Reviews
The present century has been a disappointing one for comets, but past centuries often featured spectacular, unforgettable comet shows that dominated the night (and even daytime) sky for months: comets that outshone Venus or even the Moon, whose spectacular tails stretched more than halfway across the sky or were weirdly split, and whose apparition was held responsible for everything from wars to unusually good wine vintages. Published to coincide with the first naked-eye appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp, perhaps our own comet of the century, this book is an irresistible guide to comet facts and lore throughout history.
Synopsis
Comets in Person.- 1 A Comet Passes.- Comets in General.- 2 Anatomy of a Ghost.- 3 Dirty Snowballs and the Nurseries of Leviathans.- 4 The Spectacular Deaths of Comets.- 5 Swords of Damocles.- 6 Observing and Discovering Comets.- Halley and the Short-Period Comets.- 7 Halley and Its Periodic Kin.- 8 Through the Ages with Halley's Comet.- Comets Wild.- 9 What Makes a Comet Great?.- 10 The Comets Before 1700.- 11 The Comets from 1700 to 1995.- The Latest Greats.- 12 The Grand Approach of Comet Hale-Bopp.- 13 Hyakutake Lightning.- 14 A Narrative Calendar for Observing Hale-Bopp.- 15 Comet of the Century.- Appendix A: Periodic Comet Numbers.- Appendix B: Great Comets in History.- Appendix C: Closest Comets in History.- Appendix D: Celestial Coordinates.- Appendix E: Orbital Elements.- Appendix F: Comet Brightness Formula and Estimating Brightness.- Appendix G: How to Report a Comet Discovery.- Appendix H: Ephemeris for Comet Hale-Bopp.- Sources of Information.- Credits.- General Index.- Comet Index.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 367-370) and indexes.