C/1861 J1 (Tebbutt)
Great comet discovered by John Tebbutt in 1861, visible for three months.
C/1861 J1, also known as the Great Comet of 1861 and designated 1861 II, is a long-period comet discovered by John Tebbutt on May 13, 1861, in Windsor, New South Wales, Australia. It was visible to the naked eye for approximately three months and is considered one of the eight brightest comets of the 19th century, classified as a great comet.
Quick Facts
- Discovery Ref
- Kronk_2003
- Discoverer
- John Tebbutt
- Discovery Site
- Windsor, Australia
- Discovery Date
- 13 May 1861
- Mpc Name
- C/1500 H1,Hasegawa_1995 C/1861 J1
- Designations
- 1500 I, 1861 IIICQ1
- Orbit Ref
- jpl
- Epoch
- 25 May 1861 (JD 2400920.5)
- Observation Arc
- 362 yearsHasegawa_1995
- Earliest Precovery Date
- 7 May 1500Kronk_1999
- Obs
- 2,362Branham_2014
- Perihelion
- 0.822 AU (1861) / 0.829 AU (2267)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The comet was first spotted by John Tebbutt on May 13, 1861, as a faint nebulous object near the star Lacaille 1316 in Eridanus. It was not visible in the northern hemisphere until June 29, arriving before news of its discovery. On June 30, 1861, it made its closest approach to Earth at 0.1326 AU, and during this time the Earth was actually within the comet's tail for two days, with streams of cometary material visible converging toward the distant nucleus. The comet cast shadows at night, as observed by J. F. Julius Schmidt at the Athens Observatory on the night of June 30–July 1, 1861.
Reader's Guide
C/1861 J1 is significant as one of the eight brightest comets of the 19th century, notable for its extremely close approach to Earth and the rare event of Earth passing through its tail. Its discovery by John Tebbutt, an amateur astronomer in Australia, marked a major contribution to astronomy. The comet's orbit has been studied extensively: Heinrich Kreutz calculated a period of about 409 years in 1880, while later work by Ichiro Hasegawa and Shuichi Nakano in 1995 suggested it is identical with C/1500 H1. Richard L. Branham Jr. refined the orbital period to 364.96±0.51 years in 2014, supporting that link. A hypothesis linking it to C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) was disproven by Branham in 2015. The comet's legacy includes numerous contemporary observations from around the world, including accounts by Raphael Semmes, Kate Stone, and Granville Stuart, documenting its spectacular appearance. By 1992, it had traveled more than 100 AU from the Sun, and it is predicted to return to perihelion around the year 2267.
Did You Know?
- The Earth was within the comet's tail for two days during its closest approach in June 1861.
- The comet cast shadows on the walls of the Athens Observatory, as observed by J. F. Julius Schmidt.
- It was discovered by John Tebbutt, an amateur astronomer in Australia, a month before perihelion.
- By 1992, the comet had traveled more than 100 AU from the Sun, farther than the dwarf planet Eris.
More in Named Comets, Part 3 1-24
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