Old hat, says expert of Hale-Bopp comet "discovery"

Experts of ancient Indian astronomy claim that the Hale-Bopp comet visible in the sky nowadays has been described at length by renowned Indian astronomer Acharya Varahamihir, as ''Kashyap Shwet Ketu'' in his book "Brihadsamhita" written 1521 years ago.

According to the director of "Bramhagupta" observatory and Institute of Indian Astronomy, the description by Acharya Varahamihir indicates that the comet was known to Indian astronomers even more than 1500 years ago. He said in the light of these facts, it was not correct to say that amateur astronomers Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp were the first to have spotted the comet in 1995.

Acharya Varahamihir in a shloka (verse) in the "Ketuchar" chapter of his book declared that the comet 'Kashyap Shwet Ketu' would be seen after 1500 years. The description matches that of the comet seen at present, he argues.

Acharya Varahamihir wrote in a shloka, ''The comet would rise after midnight in the first quarter of the sky and move clockwise towards south. It would appear after 1500 years,'' Acharya Varahamihir describing the same comet in his yet another shloka says ''while in motion the comet will appear to be passing close to the Pole Star, the Ursa Major (Sapt Rishi Mandal). It will appear to be moving towards south, seemingly bisecting the middle of the sky.''

Karkhedkar said astronomers of the institute studied the comet with the help of telescopes and traditional astronomical instruments on the day of solar eclipse. The team of astronomers, apart from Karkhedkar, includes Praveen Issar, also an expert of the ancient Indian science.

According to Issar, the team has found a clue that indicates that the deviation in the orbit of the comet is possible.

Karkhedkar says ''it is really strange that when 1500 years ago the modern astronomy was not even born, Acharya Varahamihir in his book talked of not one or two but 1900 comets.'' Acharya Varahamihir wrote a 'shloka' which gives the idea about the number of comets known to Indian astronomers of that period. The shloka reads ''comets which have a tail like fire rising high from the 'Agnikund' (fire pot) are 1000 in number. The presence of 900 other comets has been suggested by other experts. So we should fix their number as 1900.''

Some of the comets apart from 'Kashyap Shwet Ketu' as described by Acharya Varahamihir include "Uddalak Shwet Ketu", visible after a gap of 1000 years; "Paitamhaschal Ketu", visible after the gap of 1500 years and "Sanvart Shwet Ketu", visible after 78,000 years.

Acharya Varahamihar not only identified comets but described their origin also, Karkhedkar said, adding that the ''Brihadsamhita'' was the first book which informed that meteorites transform into comets.

Related links:
The composition of the comet
Web links
Where and how to find Hale-Bopp