Biela's Comet

The comet Biela ( official name 3D/Biela ) is a named after Wilhelm Freiherr von Biela periodic comet. The "D " in his name stands for the English " disappeared " ( "disappeared" ) and indicates that the comet no longer exists after it is broken in 1846, and has apparently completely dissolved in the sequence. Biela 's Comet was the first in the history of the study of comets, in which a division was observed.

Discovery

The comet was discovered as a small, roundish nebula by the Austrian officer and amateur astronomer Wilhelm von Biela in Jewish Town (Josefov, now part of Jaroměř, German Jermer ) in northern Bohemia on 27 February in 1826. Biela also managed an orbit determination, which showed that there is a short-period comet with an orbital period of about 6.6 years with the object. Subsequently, it was so recognized that it is the same comet, which was discovered in 1772 by Jacques Leibax Montaigne and Charles Messier, and 1805 by Jean -Louis Pons. That he was not sighted at each perihelion was due to unfavorable positions relative to the Earth and Sun. Also in 1833 and 1839, he remained unobserved.

According to Halley, the comet Olberschen ( 13P/Olbers, 1815) and the Encke 's Comet (1815 ) Biela was only the fourth comet which has been recognized as periodic.

Orbit

The orbit of Comet Biela had was the shape of an elongated ellipse, the sun next point ( perihelion ) just inside the Earth's orbit. The sonnenfernste point ( aphelion ) was just outside the orbit of the planet Jupiter, which distinguished him as a short-period comets of the Jupiter family. The train was inclined about 13 ° to the ecliptic.

History

The comet returned as predicted in 1832 again, where it was first sighted on 24 September by John Herschel.

It was the first year in the history of mankind, in the two -period comets were announced. They knew only four, three of which were not detected until 1815-1826 as such. The anticipated for October 1832 Biela should have its second recurrence and the Earth's orbit times in 2 ½ diameter of Earth crossing (but before the earth came to this point one month. ) So there was some excitement and even better music speculated about a collision or at least an effect of the tail. Furthermore, floods and cholera were feared. Even at the end of January 1833 reported the Viennese theater newspaper about the fears. Inexperienced writers mixed this comet with the Encke 's Comet ( expected in early summer 1832 and summer 1835) and the much more famous Halley 's Comet ( expected in October 1835) and distributed their arrival at the discretion of the 1830 bis 1836. Sentiment was in the comet song with the chorus "The world stands on no ' case more long " process, which was first performed with the Posse the evil spirit Lumpazivagabundus by Johann Nestroy in April 1833.

At the turn of 1845/1846, astronomers were able to observe how the comet broke up into two parts, which went away slowly from one another. In March 1846, the distance between the two fragments, both of which were training a short tail, already grown to 300,000 kilometers. At the next return of the comet in 1852, both parts could be found, the distance between them had grown to 2.5 million kilometers, which resulted in a divergence of 40-50 km / h.

The return of the comet was predicted for the years 1859 and 1865, but the comet could not be found again. Also in 1872, the search was unsuccessful after the comet, but was on November 27 - the day on which the Earth crossed the orbit of the comet - a meteor shower with up to 3,000 meteors per hour are observed: Apparently it was at the meteoroids around the remains of the now fully resolved celestial body. The as Bieliden (also Andromediden ) designated meteor stream could also be observed in 1885, 1892 and 1899 again, but its intensity was steadily declining. Then the Bieliden not reappeared in appearance.

During the meteor shower on November 27, 1885, the meteorite fell from Mazapil in northern Mexico. This iron meteorite was therefore initially thought to be a fragment of Comet Biela. Today, however, assumes that the fall of the meteorite is no more than an accident during the Bieliden - chill.

The orbit of a faint comet with the official designation P/2001 J1 (NEAT ), which was discovered on 11 May 2001 by the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking sky monitoring, that the comet Biela is similar. Whether it actually is but a fragment of the lost comet Biela, or the resemblance is only accidental, is unclear.