# Is there any evidence that Isaac Newton viewed the 1702 Kirch Comet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-evidence-that-isaac-newton-viewed-the-1702-kirch-comet/927956 "2020-12-13T14:43:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-evidence-that-isaac-newton-viewed-the-1702-kirch-comet/927956/1 "2020-12-13T14:43:56Z")
Is there any evidence that Isaac Newton viewed the 1702 Kirch Comet? I haven’t found any online. He was obviously still alive. He died in 1727. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-evidence-that-isaac-newton-viewed-the-1702-kirch-comet/927956/2 "2020-12-17T07:29:08Z")
I don’t know the answer, but if you don’t get one here, you might ask at [Sky & Telescope](https://skyandtelescope.org/). There’s a “contact us” link at the bottom. They do have contacts with historians of science who they could pass the question to. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-evidence-that-isaac-newton-viewed-the-1702-kirch-comet/927956/3 "2020-12-18T02:23:14Z")
Thanks dtilque. I’ll ask Sky & Telescope. It seems reasonable that Newton would have had some interest in the 1702 comet. He was still actively engaged in science. But I can’t find any mention of him in connection with the comet.