Great Comet of 1843
Kreutz sungrazer comet
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Through Sun
Perihelion
First observed in early February, 1843, it raced toward an incredibly close perihelion of about 827,000 km (~132,000 km from the surface of the Sun) on February 27, 1843; at this time it was observed in broad daylight roughly a degree away from the Sun. It passed closest to Earth on March 6, 1843, at a distance of 0.84 AU, and was at its greatest brilliance the following day; unfortunately for observers north of the equator, at its peak it was best visible from the Southern Hemisphere. It was last observed on April 19, 1843. At that time this comet had passed closer to the Sun than any other known object.
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Physical characteristics
Nucleus size
Estimates in 2022 based on reconstructions of the origin of Kreutz sungrazers revealed that the nucleus of the Great Comet of 1843 possibly was about 24.75 km (15.38 mi) in effective radius, with a mass of approximately 7.30×1017 kg before it disintegrated upon perihelion.
Tail
The Great Comet of 1843 developed an extremely long tail during and after its perihelion passage. At over two astronomical units in length, it was the longest known cometary tail until measurements in 1996 showed that Comet Hyakutake's tail was almost twice as long. There is a painting in the National Maritime Museum that was created by astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth with the purpose of showing the overall brightness and size of the tail of the comet.
Orbit
Estimates for the orbital period of the comet have varied from 512±105 years (Kreutz's classical work from 1901), 654±103 years, 687 years, and 742 years. But the comet was only observed over a period of 45 days from March 5 to April 19, and the uncertainties mean it likely has an orbital period of 600 to 800 years.
Recent studies in 2022 and 2025 further solidified the link between the comets of 1106 and 1843 after their orbits were traced back to the comet witnessed by Ammianus Marcellinus in 363 AD.
Musical depiction
The Mexican composer Luis Baca composed a waltz for piano, El cometa de 1843. It appeared as no. 13 in Instructor filarmónico, periódico semanario musical, Tomo primero (Mexico, 1843).