An
Australian youth named John Tebbutt purchased a marine sextant when
he was only 19 years old.
He
also acquired a clock with a seconds pendulum and a small telescope,
and he used all of these instruments to make observations of the
stars and other celestial objects in the nighttime skies.
This
was back in the 1800s, and at that time most of the world's astronomers lived in
the Northern Hemisphere. They were eager to learn from the data that
the amateur astronomer from Australia was recording. While still in
his 20s, Tebbutt actually built a small wooden observatory with his
own hands!
And
on this date in 1861, he discovered a previously unknown comet.
Tebbutt
tried to send word of the new comet and the orbit he had computed
for it to other astronomers, but they spotted the comet before they
received his news. (Remember, back then before telephones and telegrams, news traveled slowly.) Still, Tebbutt is credited with the discovery.
The
comet was considered “Great” because it was very bright. It was
visible to the naked eye for about three months. But I think it was
great because of a very unusual circumstance: for two days during the
time when the comet was closest to Earth, Earth actually crossed
through the comet's tail! That meant that people could see streams of
cometary material converging on the bright body of the comet itself.
Just check out these pictures people drew:
Also
on this date:
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