Woodcut of the great comet of 1577: it seems to shoot overhead from left to right as people point and gawk. Credit: DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/470707/view/great-comet-of-1577-historical-artwork

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   John Carlos Baez (johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Saturday, 25-Jan-2025 19:33:17 JST John Carlos Baez

   Astronomer Georg Busch on the great comet of 1577:

   “…the comet was composed of a sort of obnoxious gas generated by human sin, which floated heavenward until ignited by the wrath of God. As it burned the comet became a prolific celestial polluter, showering its effluence widely over Earth and thereby causing pestilence, Frenchmen, sudden death, bad weather…”

   I got this from an interesting blog article by @rmathematicus:

   https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2019/02/27/the-emergence-of-modern-astronomy-a-complex-mosaic-part-v/