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What did L ouis the P ious see in the night sky? A new interpretation of the A stronomer's account of Halley's C omet, 837
Author(s) -
Ashley Scott
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
early medieval europe
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1468-0254
pISSN - 0963-9462
DOI - 10.1111/emed.12008
Subject(s) - astronomer , emperor , comet , interpretation (philosophy) , event (particle physics) , history , art , sky , philosophy , art history , literature , astrophysics , ancient history , physics , linguistics
The passage of H alley's C omet through the skies above the E arth in the spring of 837 was a spectacular event, with written records surviving from T 'ang C hina, H eian J apan, the A bbasid C aliphate and the C arolingian empire. This article integrates all of these sources, together with the findings of modern historical astronomy, to revise the famous account from the Vita Hludowici imperatoris of the emperor L ouis the P ious and the ‘ A stronomer’ observing the comet from the rooftops of A achen. It assesses how reliable early medieval witnesses were when describing the natural world and demonstrates that the Astronomer was able to produce a coherent description of the night sky. However, despite the claims of the text, close analysis and comparison with C hinese observations reveals the two men could not have been watching H alley's C omet that evening. Nevertheless, the A stronomer's account is sufficiently accurate and effective that two alternative suggestions can be derived from it.