In 240 BC the court chroniclers of the Qin state noted a comet sweeping across the eastern sky, the earliest record that can be firmly identified as Halley's Comet. Chinese observers kept systematic sky logs for centuries, and later returns of the comet appear in their annals again and again. Babylonian clay tablets from 164 BC and 87 BC also describe it. Only in 1705 did Edmond Halley show that the bright comets of 1531, 1607 and 1682 were a single object on a long orbit of about 76 years. These ancient entries now let astronomers trace the comet's orbit back more than two thousand years.
Before and after
- 248 BCEConstruction of Terracotta Army
- from 247 BCE to 224 CEParthian Empire
- 247 BCEBirth of Hannibal
- c. 241 BCEEratosthenes measures the size of the Earth
- 241 BCEChinese astronomers record Halley's Comet
- from 240 BCE to 238 BCEMercenary War
- 232 BCEDeath of Ashoka
- from 221 BCE to 206 BCEQin dynasty
- from May 219 BCE to December 219 BCESiege of Saguntum
More in Universe & space
- 466 BCEDiscovery of Halley's Comet
- 300 BCEFounding of Chankillo
- 44 BCEDiscovery of Caesar's Comet
- 185 CEChinese astronomers record the supernova of 185
- 278 CEDiscovery of 278 Paulina
- 13 March 1781Discovery of Uranus
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 3rd century BCE.