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Comet Halley in 1910 in Franche-Comté: or Collective Memory at Fault

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

A. Heurtel ,
M. Rougeot  and
J.P. Parisot
A. Heurtel
Affiliation:
Association Astronomique de Franche-Comté, Pare de l’Observatoire, 34, av. de l’Observatoire, F-2500 Besançon, France
M. Rougeot
Affiliation:
Association Astronomique de Franche-Comté, Pare de l’Observatoire, 34, av. de l’Observatoire, F-2500 Besançon, France
J.P. Parisot
Affiliation:
Association Astronomique de Franche-Comté, Pare de l’Observatoire, 34, av. de l’Observatoire, F-2500 Besançon, France

Extract

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When old people are questioned they often say that they vividly recall the appearance of Comet Halley in 1910. When, in 1985, we started to analyze that previous apparition, we fully expected to find remarkable accounts in the newspapers. But instead of dramatic stories of its appearance on the night of 1910 May 18–19, we find nothing was observed until May 28, because the sky over a large part of France (even Paris), was cloudy. Even then, it was described in terms such as “This wretched comet has a very over-inflated reputation, it appears more like a nebula than the object that we were led to expect.” So why then the popular excitment?

Type
Part I Historical
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 98: Stargazers: The Contribution of Amateurs to Astronomy , 1988 , pp. 57
Copyright
Copyright © Springer-Verlag 1988