The Great Comet of 1664/65 and Judgement Day

[sloanrodgers]

I don't know how many people on Alamo Studies are interested in astronomy or comets and if this is the proper place for this topic. When I was teenager my grandmother told me that I came into this world on the 300th anniversary of a great comet that was observed by our ancestor Rev. Yellis Kassel. He recorded this 1664/1665 incident and drew a picture of the comet, which he apparently thought were three seperate entities. He also speculated that these three comets might fortell some big religious event. Now I'm not into astrology and don't place any apocalyptic significance on great or little comets, but I've recently learned that this particular celestial body was more historically important than I was led to believe by family. I think we are often too trusting of myths, legends and stories with shaky sources. Yelles believed that the apocalypse or Judgement Day might come, but it did not.

This Christmas comet was observed from England to Japan by numerous early astronomers like Stanislaw Lubieniecki, Samuel Danforth (a North American), Robert Hooke, Isaac Newton, Matasaburou, etc, etc. and some drew pictures of the event. Matasaburou of Japan, called the comet the Tiger Tail Star. Some have speculated that it may have influenced Hooke and Newton to study comets and their trajectories. I'm not sure where I'm going with this post, but I just think it is interesting that one little world-wide event can send individuals off on so many different paths. Happy New Year.

Yelles Kassel's Observations. The first date (a typo) should read 1664 to correspond with the others on the page.
pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/4845181?n=33&imagesize=1200&jp2Res=0.5&printThumbnails=no

[Allen Wiener]

About 20 years ago I got very interested in these topics, thanks largely to Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series. I read a lot of books on the subject, including many of Sagan's, who wrote an entire book called "Comet"; worth reading if you're into this stuff. I recall when Halley's Comet finally coming around several years ago it was something of a bust. After all the stories we'd read about how bright and large it had looked to earlier generations, I couldn't believe how small and dim it was. At the time, I think astronomers speculated that it had lost a lot of its mass over the years from melting, etc.

One of those "doomsday" predictions that did prove true was Mark Twain's. He was born in a year when Halley's showed up and he always said he'd go out with it on its next visit -- which he did.

[sloanrodgers]

Cosmos was a fantastic TV series and really got me interested in the subject. I haven't read any of his books, but I've read a few by other authors. I don't even remember what Haley's Comet looked like, but of course I've heard Twain's famous quote before. I don't anticipate making it to the 400th (2164) anniversary of Yellis's Comet and checking out that specific year, especially if the Mayan Calender wackos are proven correct.

[Allen Wiener]

Yeah - watch out for those Mayans! Of course, they were not able to predict their ACTUAL demise in the 16th century by the Spaniards, so I'm not relying on them in this case either.

[Rich Curilla]

And didn't Davy Crockett talk about seeing Haley's Comet in one of his writings? I think it was in 1835.

[Jim Boylston]

Jan 3, 2012 1:43:28 GMT -5 Rich Curilla said:

And didn't Davy Crockett talk about seeing Haley's Comet in one of his writings? I think it was in 1835.

Well, he wrung the tail off the comet back then. That probably explains why it wasn't as visible the last time it appeared.
Jim

[sloanrodgers]

Edmund Haley may have also been influenced to study astronomy by his observation of the Great Comet of 1664/65 and this initial hobby possibly saved him from the soap business. I read another article that speculates that this comet might have inspired a passage in the epic 1667 poem Paradise Lost, but who knows what John Milton was thinking?



* Grammar correction