![]() ![]() They knew this by at least 635 AD, many centuries before the phenomenon was observed in the West. Chinese astronomers were the first to observe that comet tails point away from the sun. The broomstick here is a metaphor for the tail and the broomhead the head of the comet. Later on, a distinction is made between beixing and huixing ( 彗星, "broom star"), that is, comets without, and with a tail respectively. Įarly records call comets beixing (or boxing: 孛星, "bushy star" or "sparkling star" according to Yeomans et al.). However, this may not be an actual sighting, but the result of later back calculation. ![]() The earliest confirmed Chinese comet observation is from 613 BC, but there is also a possible sighting of Halley's Comet in 1059 BC. They are far more complete than European observations. Report of the 240 BC apparition of Halley's Comet from the Shiji (史記)Īncient Chinese records of comet observations are the most extensive historical records in existence. ![]()
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