Editing Great Comet of 1811

{{Short description|Non-periodic comet}}
{{Infobox comet
| name= C/1811 F1 (Flaugergues)<br>(Great Comet of 1811)
| image=Comet of 1811.jpg
| caption=The Great Comet of 1811, as sketched by [[William Henry Smyth]]
| discoverer=[[Honoré Flaugergues]]
| discovery_date=March 25, 1811
| designations=1811 I
| orbit_ref= {{r|barycenter|jpldata}}
| epoch=1811-Sep-05<br />2382760.5
| observation_arc=505 days (1.38 years)
| obs=1000
| orbit=[[Long period comet]]
| semimajor=212.4 [[Astronomical Unit|AU]]
| perihelion=1.04 AU
| aphelion=423 AU
| eccentricity=0.995125
| period=2742 years (inbound)<br />2974 years (outbound)
| inclination= 106.9°
| last_p=September 12, 1811
| next_p=≈[[48th century]]<!-- Solar System is not a two-body system. The previous or the next comet return cannot be calculated simply from current value of orbital period. Semi-major axis and orbital period will change during one revolution due to gravitational perturbations from planets. -->
| physical_ref= {{r|primer}}
| dimensions= {{cvt|30-40|km|mi}}
}}

The '''Great Comet of 1811''',<ref>[[Jean-Michel Faidit]], "La comète impériale de 1811", Les Presses du Midi, 2012; [[Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander]], ''Ueber die Bahn des grossen cometen von 1811'', (Tr. Table of the path of the great comet of 1811) 4, Konigsberg, 1822.</ref> formally designated '''C/1811 F1''', is a [[comet]] that was visible to the [[naked eye]] for around 260 days, the longest recorded period of visibility until the appearance of [[Comet Hale–Bopp]] in 1997. In October 1811, at its brightest, and when it was 1.2 [[Astronomical unit|AU]] from Earth, it displayed an [[apparent magnitude]] of 0,{{r|great|Ramsey}} with an easily visible [[coma (cometary)|coma]].

== Discovery ==

The comet was discovered on March 25, 1811, by [[Honoré Flaugergues]] at [[1 E11 m|2.7 AU]] from the Sun in the now-defunct constellation of [[Argo Navis]]. After being obscured for several days by moonlight, it was also found by [[Jean-Louis Pons]] on April 11, while [[Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach]] was able to confirm Flaugergues' discovery the same night.<ref name=kronk>{{Citation |last=Kronk |first=G. W. |url=http://cometography.com/lcomets/1811f1.html |title=Cometography—C/1811 F1 (Great Comet) |access-date=November 26, 2008 }}.</ref>

The first provisional orbit was computed in June by [[Johann Karl Burckhardt]]. Based on these calculations, [[Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers]] made a prediction that the comet would go on to become extremely bright later that year.

== Observations ==
[[File:Great Comet of 1811 (1840 map).png|thumb|1840 celestial map showing the trajectory of the comet between August 1811 and January 1812]]
[[File:Great Comet of 1811, Stellarium.png|thumb|The Great Comet in the constellation [[Hercules (constellation)|Hercules]] in October 1811 as depicted in [[Stellarium (software)|Stellarium]]]]
[[File:Great Comet of 1811 animation.webm|thumb|Animation of the comet's orbit between May 1811 and March 1812]]
From May to August, the comet's position made it difficult to spot because of its low altitude and the evening twilight. Both Flaugergues and Olbers were able to recover it in [[Leo Minor]] during August, Olbers noting a small but distinct [[Comet tail|tail]], consisting of two rays forming a [[parabola]], when viewing through a [[comet seeker]].{{r|kronk}} In August, the comet was first sighted in the United Kingdom by James Veitch of Inchbonny.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Somerville|first=Martha|title=Personal Recollections From Early Life To Old Age Of Mary Somerville.|publisher=John Murray|year=1874|location=United Kingdom|pages=99–101}}</ref> By September, in [[Ursa Major]], it was becoming a conspicuous object in the evening sky as it approached [[perihelion]]: [[William Herschel]] noted that a tail 25° long had developed by October 6.

By January 1812, the comet's brightness had faded. Several astronomers continued to obtain telescopic observations for some months, the last being Vincent Wisniewski at [[Novocherkassk]], who noted it as barely reaching an [[apparent magnitude]] of 11 by August 12.{{r|kronk}}

The Great Comet of 1811 was thought to have had an exceptionally large coma, perhaps reaching over 1 million miles across—fifty percent larger than the Sun.<ref name=burnham53>{{Citation |last1=Burnham |first1=Robert |name-list-style=amp |last2=Levy |first2=David H. |title=Great Comets |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=New York |year=2000 |page=[https://archive.org/details/greatcomets00burn/page/53 53] |isbn=0-521-64600-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/greatcomets00burn/page/53 }}.</ref> The comet's [[Comet nucleus|nucleus]] was later estimated at [[1 E4 m|30–40 km]] in diameter.<ref name="primer">{{cite web
  |title=The Comet Primer
  |publisher=Cometography.com
  |author=[[Gary W. Kronk]]
  |url=http://cometography.com/educate/comintro.html
  |access-date=2011-04-05}}</ref> In many ways the comet was quite similar to [[Comet Hale–Bopp]]: it became spectacular without passing particularly close to either the [[Earth]] or the [[Sun]], but had an extremely large and active nucleus.

Astronomers also found the comet a memorable sight. [[William Henry Smyth]], comparing his recollections of the Great Comet of 1811 to the spectacular [[Donati's Comet]], stated that "as a mere ''sight''-object, the branched tail was of greater interest, the nucleus with its 'head-veil' was more distinct, and its [[circumpolar star|circumpolarity]] was a fortunate incident for gazers".<ref name=smyth>{{Citation |last=Smyth |editor-last=Kronk |editor-first=G. W. |title=Cometography: A Catalog of Comets |volume=II |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |page=27 |isbn=0-521-58505-8 }}.</ref>

The comet was apparently visible during [[1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes|the New Madrid earthquakes]] in December 1811. A report on the first steamship to descend the Ohio River as it approached the confluence with the Mississippi River states, "December 18, 1811.—The anniversary of this day the people of [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]] [Illinois] and its vicinity should never forget. It was the coming of the first steamboat to where Cairo now is—the New Orleans, Capt. Roosevelt, Commanding. It was the severest day of the great throes of the [[New Madrid earthquake]]; at the same time, a fiery comet was rushing athwart the horizon".<ref name=perrin>{{Citation |last=Bradsby |editor-last=Perrin |editor-first=William Henry |title=History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pc5MAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA16 |location=Chicago |publisher=O.L. Baskin & Co. |year=1883 |page=16}}.</ref>

== Return ==
Before perihelion passage on September 12, 1811, the comet had an [[orbital period]] of about 2742 years. Computing the [[Barycenter (astronomy)|barycentric]] orbital period of the comet after perihelion passage when it is outside the planetary region (using an epoch of 2200) shows an orbital period of about 2974 years,{{r|barycenter}} which would give a return year of around 4785.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 0.9em;"
|+Barycentric orbital periods when outside planetary perturbations{{r|barycenter}}
!
! [[Epoch (astronomy)|Epoch]]<br />1600
! Epoch<br />2200
|-
|[[Orbital period]] || 2742 yr || 2974 yr
|-
|[[Orbital eccentricity]] || 0.9947 || 0.9950
|-
|[[Aphelion]] || 391 [[Astronomical unit|AU]] || 413 AU
|}

== Allusions in culture ==
[[File:Looking at the comet till you get a criek in the neck RMG F8649.tiff|thumb|''Looking at the comet till you get a criek in the neck'', hand-coloured 1811 satirical print by [[Thomas Rowlandson]]]]
The Great Comet of 1811 seems to have had a particular impact on non-astronomers. The artists [[John Linnell (painter)|John Linnell]] and [[William Blake]] both witnessed it, the latter producing several sketches and the latter possibly incorporating it in his famous panel ''[[The Ghost of a Flea]]''.<ref name=olson1120>{{Citation |last1=Olson |first1=Roberta J. M. |author-link1=Roberta Olson|last2=Pasachoff |first2=Jay M. |last3=Pillinger |first3=Colin |name-list-style=amp |title=Fire in the Sky: Comets and Meteors, the Decisive Centuries, in British Art and Science |location=New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1999 |pages=120–121 |isbn=0-521-66359-8 }}.</ref>

The English travel writer, novelist, and political economist  [[Harriet Martineau]] (1802–1876) makes an odd reference to not seeing the comet in her ''Autobiography'': "When the great comet of 1811 was attracting all eyes&nbsp;... [n]ight after night, the whole family of us went up to the long windows at the top of my father's warehouse; and the exclamations on all hands about the comet perfectly exasperated me,—because I could not see it!&nbsp;... Such is the fact; and philosophers may make of it what they may,—remembering that I was then nine years old, and with remarkably good eyes."<ref>{{cite book|last=Martineau|first=Harriet|title=Autobiography|url=https://archive.org/details/autobiography0000mart|url-access=registration|date=2007|publisher=Broadview|isbn=978-1-55111-555-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/autobiography0000mart/page/73 73]|editor=Linda H. Peterson}}</ref>

In China, some leaders of the [[Eight Trigram Sect]] took the comet to be "auspicious blessing for their enterprise" to overthrow the [[Qing dynasty]]. They launched [[Eight Trigrams uprising of 1813|their uprising]] in 1813.<ref name="Elleman2001">{{cite book|first=Bruce |last=Elleman|title=Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795–1989|year=2001|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-21474-2|page=9}}</ref>

At the midpoint of ''[[War and Peace]]'', [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]] describes the character of [[Pierre Bezukhov|Pierre]] observing this "enormous and brilliant comet [...] which was said to portend all kinds of woes and the end of the world".<ref name="Leo">{{cite book |last1=Tolstoy |first1=Leo |title=War and Peace |date=1949 |publisher=International Collectors Library |location=Garden City}}</ref>{{rp|363}} The comet was popularly thought to have portended [[French invasion of Russia|Napoleon's invasion of Russia]] (even being referred to as "Napoleon's Comet")<ref name=olson138>{{Harvnb|Olson|Pasachoff|Pillinger|1999|p=138}}.</ref> and the [[War of 1812]], among other events. In the musical ''[[Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812]],'' Pierre witnesses the comet.<ref>[http://thegreatcometof1812.com/ ''Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812'']</ref> When asked why the comet made it into the title of the show, the composer Dave Malloy responded "for cosmic epicness".<!--Twitter post not verifiable because he deleted his account and it wasn't archived--><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatrecriticism.com/natasha-pierre-the-great-comet-of-1812-mesmerizes-at-glt/ |date=October 3, 2023 |title='Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812' mesmerizes at GLT |first=Roy |last=Berko |work=Theatre Criticism |access-date=27 April 2025}}</ref>

The year 1811 turned out to be particularly fine for wine production, and merchants marketed "[[Comet Wine]]" at high prices for many years afterwards. The film ''[[Year of the Comet]]'', a 1992 romantic comedy adventure film, is based on this premise and tells the story of the pursuit of a contemporarily discovered bottle of wine from the year of the Great Comet, bottled for [[Napoleon]]. The film stars [[Penelope Ann Miller]], [[Tim Daly]] and French film actor [[Louis Jourdan]] (his last film before retiring).<ref name=moore233>{{Citation |last=Moore |first=Patrick |title=The Data Book of Astronomy |location=Philadelphia |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |year=2000 |page=233 |isbn=0-7503-0620-3 }}.</ref>

The Great Comet is mentioned in {{lang|pl|[[Pan Tadeusz]]}} by [[Adam Mickiewicz]], and in {{lang|fr|[[Les Misérables]]}} by [[Victor Hugo]].

The comet also acts as a divine source of revival for a dying hero in the Thomas Hardy novel ''Two on a Tower''.

The appearance of the comet was interpreted by natives as a vindication of [[Shawnee]] military leader [[Tecumseh]]'s words: his name was translated as "shooting star", and the comet was seen as an omen during his mostly unsuccessful efforts that year to bring southern tribes into his pan-Native American alliance.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nps.gov/people/tecumseh.htm | title=Tecumseh | publisher=National Park Service | date=2019-02-22 | access-date=2019-08-23 }}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist
| refs =

<ref name=jpldata>{{cite web
  |title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: C/1811 F1 (Great comet)
  |url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1811F1
  |publisher=[[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]}}</ref>

<ref name=barycenter>{{cite web
  |title=Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for C/1811 F1 (Great comet)
  |author=[[JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System|Horizons]] output
  |url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%271811+F1%27&TABLE_TYPE=%27ELEMENTS%27&START_TIME=%271600-01-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272200-01-01%27&STEP_SIZE=%27600%20years%27&CENTER=%27@0%27&OUT_UNITS=%27AU-D%27
  |access-date=2019-05-30}} (Solution using the Solar System [[Barycenter]]. Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)<br />For epoch 2200 we get PR= 1.08625E+06/365.25=2973.99 years</ref>

<ref name="great">{{cite web
  |title=Great Comets in History
  |publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology (Solar System Dynamics)
  |author=Donald K. Yeomans
  |date=April 2007
  |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?great_comets }}</ref>

<ref name=Ramsey>The Comet of 44 B.C. and Caesar's Funeral Games (John T. Ramsey, A. Lewis Licht) [https://books.google.com/books?id=SRMUiwOEaTYC&pg=PA120&dq=magnitude pg 120]</ref>

}}

== External links ==
* {{JPL Small Body|id=1000742}}
* [https://hdr-astrophotography.com/simulations-of-past-comets-1700-1899/ HDR Astrophotography: Simulations Atlas of Past Comets (1700 to 1899)] by Nicolas Lefaudeux

{{Comets}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1811 F1}}
[[Category:Non-periodic comets]]
[[Category:Astronomical objects discovered in 1811|18110325]]
[[Category:Great comets]]