C/1680 V1
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The Great Comet of 1680, formally known as C/1680 V1 or Kirch's Comet, has the distinction of being the first comet discovered by telescope. Discovered by Gottfried Kirch on November 14, 1680, it became one of the brightest comets of the 17th century--reputedly visible even in daytime--and was noted for its spectacularly long tail.[link] Passing only 0.4 AUs from Earth on November 30, it sped around an incredibly close perihelion of .006 AU (898,000km on December 18, 1680, reaching its peak brightness on December 29 as it rushed outward again.[link],[link] It was last observed on March 19, 1681.[link]
Although it was a undeniably a sungrazing comet, it was probably not part of the Kreutz family.[link] Aside from its brilliance, it is probably most noted for being used by Isaac Newton to test and verify Kepler's laws.[link]
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