page_title: Great Comet of 1744
section_title: Perihelion, "six tails"
hierarchical_section_title: Great Comet of 1744 / Perihelion, "six tails"
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Der Große Komet von 1744 über NürnbergEnglish: The Great Comet of 1744 over Nuremberg
context_page_description: The Great Comet of 1744, whose official designation is C/1743 X1, and which is also known as Comet de Chéseaux or Comet Klinkenberg-Chéseaux, was a spectacular comet that was observed during 1743 and 1744. It was discovered independently in late November 1743 by Jan de Munck, in the second week of December by Dirk Klinkenberg, and, four days later, by Jean-Philippe de Chéseaux. It became visible with the naked eye for several months in 1744 and displayed dramatic and unusual effects in the sky. Its absolute magnitude — or intrinsic brightness — of 0.5 was the sixth highest in recorded history. Its apparent magnitude may have reached as high as -7, leading it to be classified among what are called the "Great Comets". This comet is noted especially for developing a 'fan' of six tails after reaching its perihelion.
context_section_description: The comet reached perihelion about March 1, 1744, when it was 0.2 astronomical units from the Sun. At about this time it was bright enough to be observed in daylight with the naked eye. As it moved away from perihelion, a spectacular tail developed — extending well above the horizon while the comet's head remained invisible due to the morning twilight. In early March 1744, Chéseaux and several other observers reported an extremely unusual phenomenon — a 'fan' of six separate tails rose above the horizon.
  The tail structure was a puzzle to astronomers for many years. Although other comets had displayed multiple tails on occasion, the 1744 comet was unique by having six. It has been suggested that the 'fan' of tails was generated by as many as three active sources on the cometary nucleus, exposed in turn to solar radiation as the nucleus rotated. It also has been proposed that the tail phenomenon was a very prominent example of the "dust striae" seen in the tails of some comets, such as Comet West and C/2006 P1 (McNaught).
caption: The Great Comet on 16 February 1744 over Nuremberg.
  An engraving illustration of "COMET-STERNS" (Comet-Stars) by astronomer & master engraver Johann Georg Puschner (1680-1749) of Comet Klinkenberg.
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