English

The Ancient Astronomy of Easter Island: Kirch's Comet

History and Philosophy of Physics 2016-08-01 v1

Abstract

A fragment of the folklore text "Apai" that was once put down on Easter Island contains a report about astronomical observations of Kirch's Comet or the Great Comet of 1680-1681 A.D. (C/1680 V1) and the partial solar eclipse of March 19, 1681 A.D. Some astronomical aspects of the local cult of bird-men have been discussed, too.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1607.08638,
  title  = {The Ancient Astronomy of Easter Island: Kirch's Comet},
  author = {Sergei Rjabchikov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1607.08638},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

Archaeoastronomy; 4 pages, 4 figures