Comet Skjellerup–Maristany,
formally designated C/1927 X1, 1927 IX, and 1927k, was a
long-period comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma, and sometimes also a Comet ta ...
which became very bright in 1927. This
great comet
A great comet is a comet that becomes exceptionally bright. There is no official definition; often the term is attached to comets such as Halley's Comet, which during certain appearances are bright enough to be noticed by casual observers who ar ...
was observable to the
naked eye
Naked eye, also called bare eye or unaided eye, is the practice of engaging in visual perception unaided by a magnifying, light-collecting optical instrument, such as a telescope or microscope, or eye protection. Vision corrected to normal ...
for about 32 days.
It was independently discovered by amateur astronomers
John Francis Skjellerup
John Francis Skjellerup (aka James Francis Skjellerup; 16 May 1875 – 6 January 1952) was an Australian amateur astronomer who spent two decades working as a telegraphist in South Africa.
His father Peder Jensen Skjellerup was Danish and died w ...
in
Australia on November 28, 1927 and Edmundo Maristany in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
on December 6, 1927, and noted for its strong
yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In ...
appearance, caused by emission from
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...
atoms.
Forward scatter
In physics, telecommunications, and astronomy, forward scatter is the deflection—by diffraction, nonhomogeneous refraction, or nonspecular reflection by particulate matter of dimensions that are large with respect to the wavelength in questi ...
ing of light on December 15 and 16 of 1927 allowed the comet to be seen during daylight if the observer blocked the Sun.
C/1927 X1 passed only 1.4° from the Sun on 1927-Dec-15.
[ (Observer Location:Geocentric 00]
It has been more than from the Sun since 2010.
The comet was mentioned in
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
's book Letters From Father Christmas.
References
External links
Orbital simulationfrom JPL (Java)
Horizons Ephemeris
Non-periodic comets
19271206
Great comets
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