Science & Discovery in the 1st century BC

13 sourced entries, 87 BCE to 2 BCE, oldest first. Also see Science & Discovery across every century or everything else in the 1st century BC.

• 87 BCEHalley's Comet makes its third confirmed apparition, recorded by Babylonian scribes as being visible in the sky "day beyond day" for about one month.source
• 82 BCEThe Aurigid shower parent comet C/1911 N1 (Kiess) returns to the inner solar system and sheds the dust particles that one revolution later cause the 1935, 1986, 1994, and 2007 Aurigid meteor outbursts on Earth.source
• 50 BCEThe Roman artillery piece called Scorpio is invented.source
• 45 BCEPossible first year of the Azes I Era.source
• 31 BCEThe Hellenistic period ends (or AD 14 by some scholars).source
• 28 BCEMay 10 – The earliest dated record of a sunspot by Chinese astronomers.source
• 26 BCEAugust 29 – Christian Cross Asterism (astronomy) at Zenith of Lima, Peru.source
• 18 BCECaesar Augustus introduces the Lex Julia (Julian Laws):source
• 12 BCEHalley's Comet makes an appearance, as recorded by Chinese Astronomers for about 56 days. Written in the Annal of Han as "In the first year of Yuan Yen (12 B.C.), in the Autumn the seventh month, on the day Sing Wei, a comet swept in Gemini, went through Pollux and Castor, and passed over Leo and Virgo. It was then behind the sun about six degrees, and appeared in the east earlier in the morning. After thirteen days the comet became an evening star shining in the west, whence it swept over Arcturus, moved slowly to Serpens, and reached Ophiuchus. After 56 days it disappeared in Scorpio."source
• 7 BCEAppearance of a very bright triple conjunction of the royal star Jupiter and Saturn in the sign of Pisces (land in the west) in May until December of that year since 854years, with a retrogradation and stationing on November 12. Robert A. Powell (1996) proposes that this is the birth date of Jesus.source
• 5 BCEMarch – Probable nova in the constellation Aquila.source
• 5 BCEc.December – Probable supernova in the constellation Capricornus.source
• 2 BCEJulia the Elder, a daughter of Augustus, is exiled on charges of treason and adultery to Pandateria; her mother Scribonia accompanies her.source