Chinese records reported Comet Swift–Tuttle reaching apparent magnitude 0.1 in 188 CE, long before the 2026 Perseids.
Historical orbit studies identify a bright appearance of the comet in 188 CE. Chinese observers recorded it at an apparent magnitude of 0.1, making it almost as bright as a first-magnitude star and readily visible without optical equipment.
The record is significant because old observations help astronomers reconstruct Swift–Tuttle’s orbit over many centuries. The comet’s modern identification depends not only on nineteenth- and twentieth-century observations, but also on matching earlier appearances to its predicted path.
Other historical dates belong to separate passages. Chinese records also report an observation in 69 BCE, while the comet was probably visible to the naked eye in 322 BCE. The 188 CE entry is the one associated with the exceptionally bright magnitude 0.1 observation.