Case file · Cosmic event
'A broom star entered the Northern Dipper'
The Spring and Autumn Annals of the state of Lu record a comet entering the Big Dipper in 613 BCE, one of the oldest comet records anywhere.
613 BCE · 35.60, 116.99 · status: official
The account
Court chroniclers in Lu treated such 'broom stars' as omens and logged them carefully; the entry is often cited as the earliest reliable dated comet observation.