16 July 1862: Comet Swift-Tuttle is Discovered
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Via Wikipedia.
Comet Swift-Tuttle (formally designated as 109P/Swift-Tuttle) was independently discovered by Lewis Swift on July 16, 1862 and by Horace Parnell Tuttle on July 19, 1862.More here.
The comet made a return appearance in 1992, when it was rediscovered by Japanese astronomer Tsuruhiko Kiuchi. It is the parent body of the Perseid meteor shower.
According to a New Scientist article, the comet is on an orbit which will almost certainly eventually hit either the Earth or the Moon, though not within this millennium.
posted by Fergie @ 7/16/2006 12:01:00 AM
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