On this day in 1680, Gottfried Kirch discovered a comet, through use of a telescope. Known as Kirch’s Comet or the Great Comet of 1680, it would grow in brightness to a maximum reached in late December, and was reportedly so bright at that time it was visible in daylight. The comet also played a role in the work of Sir Isaac Newton, who used it to test and verify Kepler’s laws of planetary motion.
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