[meteorite-list] Year of Meteorrs (1859-60)

From: bernd.pauli at paulinet.de <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: 24 Sep 2008 22:15:58 UT
Message-ID: <DIIE.0000008500003415_at_paulinet.de>

Dirk wrote:

"The comet was most likely Comet 1859(1) - Comet Temple1."

Sean wrote:

"Is it possible that they were not actually speaking of a meteor/
 meteorite, but referencing the Wilhelm Tempel 1859 comet?"


Hello Dirk, Sean, and List,

Not quite sure whether Comet 1859 and Comet Tempel 1 are identical.
Wilhelm Tempel discovered Tempel 1 on the night of April 3, 1867 and
as the comet's period is about six years, its previous apparition must have
been 1861, not 1859. He did discover a comet in 1859, the only one that
year. So, like Sean, I think that Walt Whitman may have thought of Comet
1859 but somehow intermingled the spectacular Leonid meteor shower
(whose parent comet is 55P/ *T e m p e l* -Tuttle) and Comet 1859.

I don't even think that Walt was thinking of Comet 1859 because it was
quite unspectacular. What about Comet Donati or Biela or even Halley?

A case of "poetic license" ? ... Maybe

Best,

Bernd
Received on Wed 24 Sep 2008 06:15:58 PM PDT