Abstract
“Comet” derives from the Greek “aster kometes”, which means “long-haired star” and this is a fair, if rough, description of the appearance of a comet. Comets used to be regarded as the portents of doom and tragedy and many a bright comet has caused widespread panic. For instance, a bright comet caused alarm in the England of 1665, in the early weeks of the Great Plague. Another appeared in 1666 just before the Great Fire that was to purge the plague-swept London.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer-Verlag London
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
North, G. (2003). The Comets. In: Astronomy in Depth. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-426-5_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-426-5_11
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-85233-580-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-85729-426-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive