Comet, Last Seen in Civil War, Is Sighted

WASHINGTON — For the first time this century, the comet responsible for the Perseid meteor shower has been sighted, and it displaces Halley’s comet as the longest predictable periodic comet.

A Japanese amateur astronomer using binoculars found the Swift-Tuttle comet Saturday, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory said.

Swift-Tuttle was last seen during the Civil War’s early days, making its return about once every 130 years, said Brian Marsden of the SAO in Cambridge, Mass. Halley returns about every 76 years. Swift-Tuttle has also been identified as the same object as Comet Kogler, discovered in 1737.

Once a year, the Earth passes through the debris left behind by the comet, producing the August meteor shower. For the last few years, the Perseid shower looked like a torrent, as observers throughout the world counted an increase in the number of meteors. This tipped astronomers that the comet’s return was imminent.