Chinese astronomers recorded an earlier appearance of Comet Swift–Tuttle in 188 CE, helping identify the parent of the 2026 Perseids.
Historical records from China describe a bright comet observed in 188 CE. Modern astronomers later compared that account with orbital calculations for Swift–Tuttle. The match is considered evidence that the comet had appeared long before its telescopic discovery in 1862.
Another candidate appearance was recorded in 69 BCE. Together with the 188 CE observation and later records, these ancient sightings extend the comet’s known history across many centuries. Such records are valuable because a long-period comet may return only once in a human lifetime or less.
The ancient observations were not reports of the modern Perseid meteor shower itself. They were observations of the comet. The shower’s meteors come from debris released by that comet and encountered by Earth each year.