C/1702 H1

C/1702 H1, also known as the "Comet of 1702", is a comet discovered by Francesco Bianchini and Giacomo Filippo Maraldi in Rome, then part of the Papal States, on April 20, 1702.^[2]

C/1702 H1
(Comet of 1702)

Discovery
Discovered by	Francesco Bianchini, Giacomo Filippo Maraldi
Discovery date	20 April 1702
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch	14 March 1702 (JD 2342774.607)
Observation arc	11 days
Number of observations	5
Perihelion	0.6468 AU
Eccentricity	~1.000
Inclination	4.375°
Longitude of ascending node	193.294°
Argument of periapsis	309.637°
Last perihelion	14 March 1702

1702 apparition

Bianchini and Maraldi discovered the comet on April 20, 1702. The comet was a short distance above the horizon and was said to resemble a "nebulous star".

The comet was independently discovered by Maria Margaretha Kirch (Berlin, Prussia) on April 21,^[3] and by Philippe de La Hire (Paris, France) on April 24.

The last observation of the comet was made by Bianchini and Maraldi on May 5, 1702.

Orbit

Very similar parabolic orbits were computed for C/1702 H1 by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1761) and Johann Karl Burckhardt (1807).

Closest approaches to Earth

• 1702-04-20: 0.0435 AU from Earth