Comet D/1770 L1 (Lexell's Comet), passes 0.015AU's from Earth (1.4 million miles, 2.3 million km's).
140 years ago, in 1819:
Johann Georg Tralles in Germany discovers Comet Tralles (C/1819 N1, Great Comet of 1819).
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This year:
The Soviet dogs Lisa and Ryzhik, and a rabbit named Marfusha, are launched aboard an R2-A for a sub-orbital flight, and survive.
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905 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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272 years ago, in 1687:
Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) is first published.
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21 years ago, in 1938:
Seth Barnes Nicholson discovers one of Jupiter's moons, Lysithea.
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117 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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1 year ago, in 1958:
Congress passes the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958.
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695 years ago, in 1264:
Japanese observers are the first to view the Great Comet of 1264 (C/1264 N1).
1625 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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1541 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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45 years ago, in 1914:
Seth Barnes Nicholson discovers one of Jupiter's moons, Sinope.
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8 years ago, in 1951:
Dezik and Tsygan, launched aboard a Soviet R1, are the first dogs to make a sub-orbital flight (both survived).
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350 years ago, in 1609:
Thomas Harriot becomes the first person to make a drawing of the Moon through a telescope.
1 year ago, in 1958:
Explorer 4 is launched for further study of the Van Allen Belts.
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108 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.
40 years ago, in 1919:
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is founded at the Constitutive Assembly of the International Research Council .
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1 year ago, in 1958:
The National Aeronautics and Space Act (NASA) is signed into a law by President Eisenhower.
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43 years ago, in 1916:
951 Gaspra, an S-type asteroid orbiting close to the inner edge of the asteroid belt, is discovered by the Russian astronomer G. N. Neujmin.
21 years ago, in 1938:
Seth Barnes Nicholson discovers one of Jupiter's moons, Carme.
It's been 3966 days
