A Comet a Week

As a lead up to the July 30th release of THE NIGHT OF THE COMET, I’m going to feature a famous comet a week on this blog.

Blatant self-promotion, yes, but you might enjoy it. Collect all the comets and you’ll win . . . I don’t know. Something special.

This week’s comet, one of history’s most famous: Constantine’s Comet.

You might be familiar with the legend: Constantine the Great, Roman Emperor and founder of Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), converted to Christianity in the 4th century when he had a vision of a cross burning in the sky above a battlefield:

“He saw with his own eyes in the heavens a trophy of the cross arising from the light of the sun, carrying the message, In Hoc Signo Vinces or ‘with this sign, you will conquer.’”

He commanded his soldiers to make the mark the cross on their shields, and thus he won the battle.

Some maintain that the light in the sky Constantine saw was a comet, “Constantine’s Comet.”