The “comet” appeared to leave in 1812, although there is some uncertainty as to whether it really left entirely.ĭuring the winter of 1811-12, a series of some 1,874 recorded tremors within the New Madrid fault dramatically altered the landscape on some 30-50,000 square miles of land creating Reelfoot Lake in extreme northwest Tennessee. The massive New Madrid earthquakes began in December 1811 and continued through the Spring of 1812. Unfortunately for those in living near New Madrid, Arkansas in December 1811, this comet made life anything but ordinary. They were considered a magnitude 7 to 8 - and people blamed them on the comet. These quakes were so intense they shook church bells in New England and Charleston, and for a time, parts of the Mississippi River flowed backward. Two months later, on December 16th, the first of three extraordinary earthquakes struck the midwestern and southern United States. The head and coma of the comet was reported to be wider than the diameter of the Sun and it had a very long, bright tail despite not coming very close to the Earth.
The comet passed closest to Earth on October 20th. To many people, the appearance of this unusual celestial visitor in the night sky portended doom. The Comet of 1811 was the brightest comet with the longest duration of brightness on record (260 days) until Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. The Great Comet of 1811, with a coma over a million miles across, was visible in the sky for almost a year. When the earthquakes struck and the Mississippi actaully flowed backwards for a brief time, locals in the region, thought the comet had struck the earth on the upper Mississippi or Ohio Rivers. Curiously, it also had a circumpolar orbit as viewed by many, staying within view for 24 hours a day at certain latitudes, appearing to be “homing in” on the earth. In December of 1811 the comet appeared to some observers to fade and to others it appeared to “perform frightening acrobatics and split in two”. The comet, has an orbit of 3,065 years, was last seen during the time of Ramses II in Egypt. The appearance of this great comet, which was visible around the globe for seventeen months, and was at its brightest during the earthquakes. Adding to their fears was the fact that in September of the same year, there was a total eclipse of the sun that moved across the tri-state lands, including the New Madrid region. Like other great comets, i t was a cause of great concern. This comet was the most visible celestrial sight that occurred in 2000 years. Some recordings show it had a tail 25 degrees long and a head 50% larger than the sun. It's intensity was brightest on Oct, 1811 it faded away by April, 1812. The great comet of 1811 was first spotted in March of 1811 and its intensity increased through December 1811. The year 1811 started off with an amazing sight, one not many humans are “lucky” enough to ever see in their lifetime.
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