Comets in Australian Aboriginal Astronomy
History and Philosophy of Physics
2010-10-06 v1 Popular Physics
Physics and Society
Abstract
We present 25 accounts of comets from 40 Australian Aboriginal communities, citing both supernatural perceptions of comets and historical accounts of bright comets. Historical and ethnographic descriptions include the Great Comets of 1843, 1861, 1901, 1910, and 1927. We describe the perceptions of comets in Aboriginal societies and show that they are typically associated with fear, death, omens, malevolent spirits, and evil magic, consistent with many cultures around the world. We also provide a list of words for comets in 16 different Aboriginal languages.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1010.0801,
title = {Comets in Australian Aboriginal Astronomy},
author = {Duane W. Hamacher and Ray P. Norris},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1010.0801},
year = {2010}
}
Comments
Accepted in the "Journal for Astronomical History & Heritage", 17 Pages, 6 Figures, 1 Table