Unraveling the Connection between Halley’s Comet and the Birth and Death of Mark Twain

Demand:

The American author Mark Twain was born and died on the days that Halley’s Comet passed over the Earth.

Rating:

What’s True:

Halley’s perihelion, the comet’s closest approach to the sun, occurred in 1835 and 1910, the years of Twain’s birth and death.

What is False:

The comet was not at its closest point to Earth on the days of Twain’s birth and death.

titled “strange but perfect ending,” the death of American writer Mark Twain had the same adventurous story arc as some of his most beloved and famous stories. The author of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” famously said, “I came in with Halley’s Comet … and I’m looking forward to going out with it.”

Details of the literary icon’s death have been released shared across the social mediaoften noting the coincidence of Twain’s birth and death with the passage of the periodical comet, like this post shared by X (formerly Twitter) on February 22, 2024:

Halley’s perihelion – its closest approach to the sun – occurred in 1835 and 1910, the years of Twain’s birth and death. But the comet was not at its closest point to Earth on the days of Twain’s birth and death, as implied by the claim that the comet “flew” the planet on those dates. For this reason, we have rated this claim as “Mixed.”

Snopes spoke with NASA’s Chief Historian Brian Odomour newsroom referred to an article on October 14, 2021 titled “955 Years Ago: Halley’s Comet and the Battle of Hastings.” John Uri of the Johnson Space Center wrote in it:

The story continues

According to Mark Twain House and Museumthe American author, whose given name is Samuel Clemens, was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. He died at the age of 74 on April 21, 1910. The museum noted that Twain was born and died in the years when Halley’s Comet hit Earth” – not the dates he was closest to.

Halley passed his perihelion November 16, 1835and data published by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory show that the next perihelion of the comet was underway April 20, 1910 – the day before Twain died.

Because comets are subject to the laws of physics, it can take days, weeks or even longer for them to pass Earth. News reports from 1910 indicate that Halley’s comet was visible in the United States between May 18 and 20, although Wired reported that the comet was at its brightest from May 14 to 22. Halley appearing so prominently during this time frame suggests that the comet was at its closest. point to the Earth, also known as perigee. Regardless, this happened about a month after Twain’s death.

Halley’s passage of 1910 was particularly noteworthy because newspaper predictions of the impact of Halley’s Comet caused public fear and mass hysteria,” writes the Library of Congress. Before the comet’s arrival, some scientists said that cyanogen gas in its tail could end all life on Earth, fueling public concern about the “end of the world.”

Not surprisingly, Halley’s appearance impressed Twain, according to the author credited as he said not long before his death:

Officially known as 1P/Halley, the periodic comet moves back to Earth’s motion, or backwards, around the sun. On average, this orbit takes about 75 years, although the period varies due to the gravitational effects of the surrounding planets. Halley’s pass is measured from one perihelion passage, the closest distance to the sun to the next, and the shortest orbit is 74.42 years, between 1835 and 1910, according to NASA.

It was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1705 and is described in his “Synopsis of Cometicae Astrology,Halley’s was the first scientifically proven comet to return to Earth. Since then, the comet has been linked to ancient beliefs for over two millennia, including its appearance on the famous Bayeux tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings 1066 between the Norman-French and English armies.

(Public Domain/Wikimedia Community)

Referred to by NASA as “Cosmic snowballs” Comets made of dust, rock and ice that degrade over time. With each orbit around the sun Halley, which is about 9.3 miles by 5 miles across, is estimated to lose between 3 and 10 feet of material. orbit for 16,000 years at least and — as the average periodic comet lasts about 1,000 trips around the Sun — it will be visible for another 60,000 years, give or take a few.

Halley’s comet is the only naked-eye comet to be seen twice in a human’s lifetime NASA. When Halley returns to the inner solar system, Halley sprays ice and rock into space resulting in the biennial meteor shower, May’s Eta Aquarids and the Oranids in October.

Halley’s Comet as it appeared in 1910, photographed in Arequipa, Peru. (Public Domain/Wikimedia Community)

Sources:

1P/Halley – NASA Science. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/1p-halley/. Accessed 28 February 2024.

955 Years Ago: Halley’s Comet and the Battle of Hastings – NASA. 14 Oct. 2021, https://www.nasa.gov/history/955-years-ago-halleys-comet-and-the-battle-of-hastings/.

1909Obs….32..175L Page 175. https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1909Obs….32..175L#:~:text=1835)%20was%20first%20detected%20by,(1773)%20at%20176%20Correspondence. Accessed 28 February 2024.

Biography – Mark Twain House. 5 June 2017, https://marktwainhouse.org/about/mark-twain/biography/, https://marktwainhouse.org/about/mark-twain/biography/.

Comets – NASA Science. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/. Accessed 28 February 2024.

Great Comets in History. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sb/great_comets.html. Accessed 28 February 2024.

Halley, Edmond. A Summary of the Astronomy of Comets. 1705, https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/synopsisofastron00hall.

“https://Twitter.Com/Hollow_maven/Status/1760766068149096549.” X (formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/hollow_maven/status/1760766068149096549. Accessed 28 February 2024.

“https://Twitter.Com/Rainmaker1973/Status/1760641993233818058.” X (formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1760641993233818058. Accessed 28 February 2024.

“Is It True that Mark Twain Was Born and Died on the Same Day Halley’s Comet Hit Earth?” Quora, https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Mark-Twain-was-both-born-and-died-on-the-same-day-that-Halleys-comet-passed-Earth . Accessed 28 February 2024.

“Mark Twain’s strange but perfect ending.” PBS News Hour21 Apr. 2022, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/mark-twains-weird-but-perfect-ending.

NASA History Office – NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/history/history-office/. Accessed 28 February 2024.

Pop Culture Influence – Mark Twain House. 5 June 2017, https://marktwainhouse.org/about/mark-twain/pop-culture-influence/ , https://marktwainhouse.org/about/mark-twain/pop-culture-influence/ .