The ancient Greeks saw Halley's comet Probably streak Past in 466 BC, pushing the Earliest Documented observation of the comet back by more Than 200 years, a new study found Has.

And a meteorite Struck northern Greece Was burning while the comet in the sky, shaking up the ancients' understanding of the cosmos, the research shows.

"It looks like a Promising account of the comet," Said Daniel Graham, a professor of philosophy at Brigham Young University, Who Was lead author of the study. "The evidence IS all very consist with Halley's."

Charting Halley's Past and Its Future

Halley has-been a regular visitor to Earth's skies for Thousands of years. When the comet travels near planet o Every 74 to 79 years, it's bright Enough to Be seen by the naked eye. The last pass Was closed in 1986, and the next is Due in 2061.[Photo of Halley's comet.]

In 1705, astronomer Edmond Halley Français Suggested comet was seen in 1682 Was The One That même bed up the sky in 1531 and 1607. He Predicted Further it would be back in 1758. When this cam to pass, the comet Loved Was Given name.

Scientists Have Been forecasting the Appearance of Halley Ever Since.

Theys Also can cast backward in time, making "retrodiction" When and WHERE to calculate Halley's comet appeared Would Have In The Past. Many of contention can be confirmed with historical records. Babylonian and Chinese records, for example, confirm the calculations Halley That PASSED Earth in 87 BC, 164 BC and 240 BC, scientists say.

"The predictions for 240 BC are amazing," Said co-researcher Eric Hintz, astronomer year at BYU in Provo, Utah. "They really pinned it down to the right hand of the sky."

Pushing back the record

The 240 BCobservation made by the Chinese astronomers HAD Been Confirmed Earliest sighting of Halley's comet. Purpose ancient Greek documents DESCRIBE has comet Halley That Could Be, in 466 BC visiting

The Greek Writings Mainly DESCRIBE Another astronomical event Dramatic Of That year a meteorite the size of a "car load" that Fell in northern Greece. Aristotle wrote about the meteorite 100 years later ", Pliny, writing five centuries after the event, as well DID.

Some accounts of argument, Including Aristotle's, reference Was That a comet lighting up the sky When the meteorite hit.This information consists IS with the mathematical models, Which Flew Suggest Halley by Earth in 466 BC

To determine if this comet Halley Was Actually, Graham and Hintz extended astronomical Existing models to include not just information on Halley's orbit, order details about STIs visibility.

"We took Their orbital-element calculations and tried to extrapolate WHERE Halley's comet visible from Earth would've Been," Hintz Told SPACE.com. "We wanted to know," could the Greek APÉNDICE Have Seen it? "

Their answer: Yes.

Not only the DID suggestive model Halley Would Have Been To The Greeks visible DURING That pass, it Correctly Projected That the light show Would Have Lasted about 75 days - Unusually long year window - in line with observations from the Ancient Greek writer Daimachus.

"It Turned Out to Be a really strange path," Hintz said."Halley May Have Been MONSTER visible for 70 or 75 days."

Researchers "Also Calculated Halley's tail That Would Have Been Very Large, Creating Many shooting stars have debris from the tail-through Earth's atmosphere Flew. This detail, too, IS Recorded by Daimachus. (There is No evidence Goal That the car-load cam meteorite from Halley, the comet gold That Caused the strike nutritionist in Utah.)

Bad record-keeping

Still, the evidence the Ancient Greeks That Recorded Halley's Pass Is Not conclusive, the Researchers Say. Entirely To be sure, would Researchers Need more details Sucha Which constellations have appeared in the comet, and when.

That's the kind of thing the Babylonians and Chinese meticulous Noted In Their record for assists was Halley's few "centuries later". Objective Were not the Greeks That detail-oriented, so this information IS Unlikely to exist for the 466 BC comet.

"The Greeks HAD great physical models of the heavens, They Were lousy aim at making observations," Graham said. "Their empirical skills n'ont pas été thats great."

Toward a Better Understanding of the Cosmos

Even if THEY DID witness Halley's pass, the Greeks Probably Did not Understand What the comet Actually Was. Many Greek thinkers of the day Were Believed comets optical illusions or the result of strange weather, Graham said. Aristotle, for example, windy conditions associated with comets.

This LACK of understanding Lasted Thousands of years. Much of human THROUGHOUT history, comets have supernatural objects viewed: Were That portended doom.

When Halley appeared in AD 1066, for example, the Misfortune Français steeled for Themselves. Their Fears Were Born Out When William the Conqueror's Normans Defeated Them At The Battle of Hastings Later That year, killing King Harold II in the process.The comet can Be seen in the Bayeux Tapestry, a medieval artwork chronicles the Norman invasion That.

Aim the events of 466 BC the Greeks help DID Develop a Better Understanding of the universe, "The Researchers said. The meteorite strike, Especially, Had a Lasting Impact on Greek Thought and astronomical.

The space rock's Remains On The Ground Became a tourist attraction for the next 500 years.

"Before That, There's no evidence the Greeks Even Knew That There Were meteors," Graham said. The Greeks HAD Observed goal shooting stars' em Regarded as odd events of the weather, hey added.

The meteorite Also Understand That Helped the Greeks are heavenly Bodies Weighty and mass - not ethereal and cloudlike, as Many People Believed HAD, Graham said. The heavy-bodies theory advanced HAD Been Before the meteorite strike by the great thinker Anaxagoras, who's proposing for Known That the seeds of life exist THROUGHOUT the cosmos.

When people saw the space rock, They tended "to turn to Anaxagoras' scientific explanations, and not to angry gods and goddesses.

"I find it really interesting the meteor That Was Not associated with" any mythological stories, "Graham said. "The headlines at the time Were all about the scientific explanation."

Researchers "Reported Their findings in the July Issue of the Journal of Cosmology.

Gallery: The Greatest Comet Images Video: Comets Through Time: Myth and Mystery Gallery: Impact Craters: Earth and Beyond

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Halley's Comet Was Spotted By Ancient Greeks