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Records of Halley's comet on Babylonian tablets

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Abstract

The late Babylonian texts in the British Museum are shown to contain probable observations of Halley's comet at both its 164 BC and 87 BC apparitions. These texts have important bearing on the orbital motion of the comet in the ancient past.

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Author notes

  1. H. Hunger: Institut für Orientalistik der Universität Wien, Universitätsstrasse 7/V, A-1010 Wien, Austria

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

    F. R. Stephenson, K. K. C. Yau & H. Hunger

Authors
  1. F. R. Stephenson
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  2. K. K. C. Yau
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  3. H. Hunger
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Stephenson, F., Yau, K. & Hunger, H. Records of Halley's comet on Babylonian tablets. Nature 314, 587–592 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/314587a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/314587a0

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