C/1702 H1 Explained

C/1702 H1
Discovery Date:20 April 1702
Designations:Comet of 1702
Observation Arc:11 days
Obs:5
Epoch:14 March 1702 (JD 2342774.607)
Perihelion:0.6468 AU
Eccentricity:~1.000
Inclination:4.375°
Asc Node:193.294°
Arg Peri:309.637°
Last P:14 March 1702

C/1702 H1, also known as the "Comet of 1702", is a comet discovered by Maria Margaretha Kirch in Germany on April 20, 1702.

1702 apparition

Kirch discovered the comet on April 20, 1702. The comet was a short distance above the horizon and was said to resemble a "nebulous star".

An independent discovery was made by Philippe de La Hire (Paris, France) on April 24.

The last observation of the comet was made by Bianchini and Maraldi on May 5, 1702.

Orbit

Very similar parabolic orbits were computed for C/1702 H1 by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1761) and Johann Karl Burckhardt (1807).

Closest approaches to Earth

References

Bibliography