Comet D/1770 L1 (Lexell's Comet), passes 0.015AU's from Earth (1.4 million miles, 2.3 million km's).
85 years ago, in 1819:
Johann Georg Tralles in Germany discovers Comet Tralles (C/1819 N1, Great Comet of 1819).
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850 years ago, in 1054:
Chinese astronomers make the first recorded observation of supernova SN 1054; its remnants are the Crab Nebula.
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217 years ago, in 1687:
Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) is first published.
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62 years ago, in 1842:
Francis Baily of the United Kingdom, at an eclipse in Italy, focuses attention on the corona and prominences and identifies them as part of the Sun's atmosphere.
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640 years ago, in 1264:
Japanese observers are the first to view the Great Comet of 1264 (C/1264 N1).
1570 years ago, in 334:
Julius Firmicus Maternus of the Roman Empire makes the first recorded observation of solar prominences during an annular eclipse
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1486 years ago, in 418:
The historian Philostorgius in Asia Minor makes the first report of a comet discovered during a solar eclipse.
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295 years ago, in 1609:
Thomas Harriot becomes the first person to make a drawing of the Moon through a telescope.
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53 years ago, in 1851:
The first correctly exposed photographic image of a solar eclipse, a daguerreotype, is made by Julius Berkowski at the Royal Observatory in Konigsberg, Prussia.
It's been 4005 days
