C/1845 L1 (Colla)

C/1845 L1 (Colla)
(Great Comet of 1845)
The Great Comet of 1845 sketched by Julius Schmidt in 11 June 1845.[1]
Discovery[2]
Discovered byAntonio Colla
Discovery siteParis, France
Discovery date2 June 1845
Designations
1845 III[3]
Orbital characteristics[6]
Epoch18 June 1845 (JD 2395100.5)
Observation arc29 days[4]
Earliest precovery date31 May 1845[5]
Number of
observations		100[4]
Perihelion0.401 AU
Eccentricity1.00366
Inclination152.15°
326.35°
Argument of
periapsis		58.786°
Mean anomaly11.813°
Last perihelion6 June 1845
Physical characteristics[7]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		4.0
0.08 or –2.0[a]
(1845 apparition)

The Great June Comet of 1845, formally designated as C/1845 L1, is a bright non-periodic comet that became visible to the naked eye between June and July 1845. It is one of the few great comets in history. It is sometimes known as Colla's Comet, after the first astronomer to report its discovery, Antonio Colla.[8]

Observational history

Discovery

Antonio Colla was the first to report the comet's discovery from Paris, France on 2 June 1845, situated "near the head of Medusa" in the constellation Perseus, however no position was recorded until George Phillips Bond noted it a day later.[b] The comet was already almost visible to the naked eye, with a tail extending 1 degree to the north-northeast. The comet was subsequently seen by many observers an hour after Colla first spotted it, reporting the brightness comparable to the star Capella.[7]

In October 1845, long after the comet faded from view, an issue of the American Journal of Science reported a prediscovery observation of C/1845 L1 conducted from Norfolk, Virginia on 31 May 1845.[5]

Follow-up observations

The comet continued to be observed across the globe for the entire month of June 1845.[7] It was last observed by Joseph S. Hubbard and John H. C. Coffin on 2 July 1845,[9] while it was in the constellation Cancer.[c] Around the same time, Augustin Reslhuber attempted to spot the comet but was unable to find it.[10]

Orbit

Heinrich d'Arrest computed an elliptical orbit suggesting that C/1845 L1 is a long-period comet has an orbital period of 250 years, and he noted the apparent similarity between it and C/1596 N1 (Brahe).[11] However this was disproven in 1904, when Henry Allen Peck revised the orbital period to approximately 313000 years, making the link to the 1596 comet invalid.[12] Further calculations by Richard L. Branham, Jr. in 2009, showed that the comet was about 260 AU (39 billion km) from Earth in 1596.[6] Branham also revised Peck's orbit into a hyperbolic trajectory, eliminating the possibility of C/1845 L1 becoming a near-Earth object.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ As bright as Capella or Jupiter.[7]
  2. ^ Reported position a day after discovery was: α = 3h 27.6m , δ = 38° 15′[7]
  3. ^ Final reported position were the following: α = 8h 51.4m , δ = 24° 29′[7]

References

  1. ^ M. Geffert (28 March 2022). "Julius Schmidt". Rheinische Geschichte. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  2. ^ A. Colla; A. C. Petersen; J. F. Encke; et al. (1845). "Nachrichten über den von Herrn Colla am 3ten Junius entdeckten Cometen" [News about the Comet Discovered by Mr. Colla on June 3rd]. Astronomische Nachrichten (in German). 23 (13): 207–208. Bibcode:1845AN.....23..207C. doi:10.1002/asna.18460231308.
  3. ^ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b "C/1845 L1 (Great June Comet) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  5. ^ a b Bennett; G. P. Bond; B. Peirce; et al. (1845). "Third Comet of 1845". American Journal of Science. 49 (Miscellanies): 220–221. ISBN 978-1-248-12643-1. {{cite journal}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  6. ^ a b c R. L. Branham Jr. (2009). "Orbits of Comets C/1845 L1 (Great June Comet) and C/1846 D1 (de Vico)". Astronomische Nachrichten. 330 (4): 346–350. Bibcode:2009AN....330..346B. doi:10.1002/asna.200811033.
  7. ^ a b c d e f G. W. Kronk (2003). Cometography: A Catalog of Comets. Vol. 2: 1800–1899. Cambridge University Press. pp. 152–154. ISBN 978-0-521-58505-7.
  8. ^ G. S. G. Santini; G. B. Airy (1845). "Observations of Colla's Comet" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 7 (1): 12–14. Bibcode:1845MNRAS...7...12.. doi:10.1093/mnras/7.1.12.
  9. ^ M. F. Maury; J. S. Hubbard; H. C. F. Coffin (1850). "Comet observations". Astronomical Journal. 1 (17): 134–136. Bibcode:1850AJ......1..134M. doi:10.1086/100088.
  10. ^ A. Reslhuber (1845). "Schreiben des Herrn Professors Reslhuber an den Herausgeber" [Letter from Professor Reslhuber to the editor]. Astronomische Nachrichten (in German). 23 (16): 249–254. doi:10.1002/asna.18460231607.
  11. ^ H. L. d'Arrest (1845). "Ueber die Bahn des zweiten Colla'schen Cometen" [On the Orbit of Colla's Second Comet]. Astronomische Nachrichten (in German). 23 (23): 349–352. Bibcode:1845AN.....23..349D. doi:10.1002/asna.18460232303.
  12. ^ H. A. Peck (1904). "Definitive Orbit of Comet 1845 III". Astronomical Journal. 24 (555): 17–25. Bibcode:1904AJ.....24...17P. doi:10.1086/103530.
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