X/1106 C1, also known as the Great Comet of 1106, was a

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 ...

that appeared on 2 February 1106, and was observed around the world from the beginning of February through to mid-March. It was recorded by astronomers in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

. It was observed to split into many pieces, forming the

Great Comet of 1882 The Great Comet of 1882 formally designated C/1882 R1, 1882 II, and 1882b, was a comet which became very bright in September 1882. It was a member of the Kreutz Sungrazers, a family of comets which pass within of the Sun's photosphere at perih ...

and

Comet Ikeya–Seki :''There are two comets named Ikeya–Seki: C/1965 S1 (this one), and C/1967 Y1, a.k.a. 1968 I, 1967n.'' Comet Ikeya–Seki, formally designated C/1965 S1, 1965 VIII, and 1965f, was a long-period comet discovered independently by Kaoru Ikeya ...

as well as over 4000 small sungrazing comets observed by the

SOHO Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

space telescope. It is a member of the Kreutz Group, known as Subfragment I, a split from an earlier large (~150 km) comet that progressively fragmented under the influence of the Sun.

Observations

Britain

A brief note in the Welsh manuscript known as the ''

Brut y Tywysogion ''Brut y Tywysogion'' ( en, Chronicle of the Princes) is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. ''Bru ...

'' reads:

1106 Yn y vlwydyn honno y gwelat seren anryued y gwelet yn anuon paladyr oheuni yn ol y chefyn ac o prafter colofyn y veint a diruawr oleuat idaw, yn darogan yr hyn a vei rac llaw: kanys Henri, amherawdyr Rufein, gwedy diruawryon vudugolyaetheu a chrefudussaf vched y Grist a orffowyssawd. A'e vab ynteu, wedy cael eistedua amherodraeth Rufein, a wnaethpwyt yn amherawdyr.

This translates into English as:

1106 In that year there was seen a star wonderful to behold, throwing out behind it a beam of light of the thickness of a pillar in size and of exceeding brightness, foreboding what would come to pass in the future: for Henry, emperor of Rome, after mighty victories and a most pious life in Christ, went to his rest. And his son, after winning the seat of the empire of Rome, was made emperor.

The 1106 annal of the ''

Peterborough Chronicle The ''Peterborough Chronicle'' (also called the Laud manuscript and the E manuscript) is a version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'' originally maintained by the monks of Peterborough Abbey in Cambridgeshire. It contains unique information abo ...

'' describes the comet. The Dorothy Whitlock translation reads:

In the first week of Lent, on the Friday, 16 February, in the evening, there appeared an unusual star, and for a long time after that it was seen shining a while every evening. This star appeared in the south-west; it seemed small and dark. The ray that shone from it, however, was very bright, and seemed to be like an immense beam shining north-east; and one evening it appeared as if this beam were forking into many rays toward the star from an opposite direction.

Japan

The most impressive observations of the comet come from the Japanese chronicle ''Dainihonshi''. The chronicle reported that on 7 February 1106 AD the gigantic comet appeared in the southwest and stretched across a massive portion of the sky towards the east. The brilliant comet was described as white and with a tail stretching 100 degrees across the entire sky. X/1106 C1
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China

An excerpt from a Chinese manuscript describes the following report of a comet in 1106, mentioning the comet's breakup after perihelion, dated February 10:

In the reign of Hwuy Tsung, the 5th year of the epoch of Tsung Ning, the 1st moon ebruary day Woo Seuh (Feb. 10th), a comet appeared in the west. It was like a great Pei Kow. The luminous envelope was scattered. It appeared like a broken-up star. It was 60 egreesin length and was 3 egreesin breadth. Its direction was to the north-east. It passed S.D. Kwei (southern Andromeda/northern
Pisces Pisces may refer to: * Pisces, an obsolete (because of land vertebrates) taxonomic superclass including all fish * Pisces (astrology), an astrological sign * Pisces (constellation), a constellation **Pisces Overdensity, an overdensity of stars in ...
). It passed S.D. Lew (Southern
Aries Aries may refer to: *Aries (astrology), an astrological sign *Aries (constellation), a constellation of stars in the zodiac Arts, entertainment and media * ''Aries'' (album), by Luis Miguel, 1993 * ''Aries'' (EP), by Alice Chater, 2020 * "Aries" ...
), Wei (
Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
), Maou, and Peih (
Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus * '' Bos tauru ...
). It then entered into the clouds and was no more seen.

Vietnam

The Vietnamese Annals

Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư The ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史記全書; ; ''Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official national chronicle of the Vietnamese state, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...

also recorded the comet event: ::''"Bính Tuất, năm thứ 6 mùa xuân, tháng giêng, sao chổi mọc ở phương Tây đuôi dài khắp nơi."''
(At year Binh Tuat (Fire Dog), in spring January, there is a comet in the West with long radiant tail'')

Others

Sigebert of Gembloux Sigebert of Gembloux (Sigebertus Gemblacensis; 1030 – 5 October 1112) was a medieval author, known mainly as a pro-Imperial historian of a universal chronicle, opposed to the expansive papacy of Gregory VII and Pascal II. Early in his life ...

mentions it in his ''Chronicon sive Chronographia'' (pub. 1111). * De Significatione Cometarum * Anales Toledanos I (c. 1219) * Dainihonshi（大日本史） (1715) *

Wenxian Tongkao The ''Wenxian Tongkao'' () or ''Tongkao'' was one of the model works of the '' Tongdian'' compiled by Ma Duanlin in 1317, during the Yuan Dynasty. References *Dong, Enlin, et al. (2002). ''Historical Literature and Cultural Studies''. Wuhan: Hube ...

（文獻通考） (1308) * History of Song（宋史） (1345) * Xu Tongjian Gangmu（續通鑒綱目） (1476)

Resources

*Thomas Jones, ''Brut y Tywysogion, or, the Chronicle of the Princes:

Red Book of Hergest The ''Red Book of Hergest'' ( cy, Llyfr Coch Hergest, Oxford, Jesus College, MS 111) is a large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language. It preser ...

version'', University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1955. *Comet X/1106 C1: Publication der Sternwarte in Kiel, No. 6, pp. 1–66, and AN 238 (1930 Jun 5), pp. 403–4

References

Sources

Historic astronomical observations in Wales
*http://cometography.com/lcomets/1106c1.html {{DEFAULTSORT:X 1106 C1 Kreutz Sungrazers 12th century in science 1106 in Asia Non-periodic comets 06 1106 in Europe Great comets Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor