Key Takeaways:
- The article highlights the inherent difficulty in objectively comparing comets observed across vastly different time periods.
- The challenge stems from the lack of sophisticated observational instruments for historical cometary records.
- A contrast is drawn between historical comet observations and modern observations, exemplified by the comparison with Comet McNaught.
- The core issue presented is the lack of standardized metrics for assessing comet brightness and other characteristics across historical and contemporary data.
Rating historical comets is a tough job. How do you compare a comet from the deep past, when no instruments were available, to, say, last year’s Comet McNaught?
