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Halley'sComet:FactsAbouttheMostFamousComet
By ElizabethHowell,Space.comContributor | February20,201302:17pmET

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An image of Halley's Comet taken in 1986.

Credit: NASA

Halley's Comet is arguably the most famous comet. It is a "periodic"

comet and returns to Earth's vicinity about every 75 years, making it
possible for a human to see it twice in his or her lifetime. The last time it
was here was in 1986, and it is projected to return in 2061.
The comet is named after English astronomer Edmond Halley, who
examined reports of a comet approaching Earth in 1531, 1607 and 1682.
He concluded that these three comets were actually the same comet
returning over and over again, and predicted the comet would come again
in 1758.
Halley didn't live to see the comet's return, but his discovery led to the
comet being named after him. (The traditional pronunciation of the name
usuallyrhymes with valley.) Halley's calculations showed that at least
some comets orbit the sun.
Further, the first Halley's Comet of the space age in 1986 saw several
spacecraft approach its vicinity to sample its composition. High-powered
telescopes also observed the telescope as it swung by Earth.
Halley's in history

The first known observation of Halley's took place in 239 B.C., according
to the European Space Agency. Chinese astronomers recorded its passage
in the Shih Chi and Wen Hsien Thung Khao chronicles.
When Halley's returned in 164 B.C. and 87 B.C., it probably was noted in
Babylonian records now housed at the British Museum in London. "These
texts have important bearing on the orbital motion of the comet in the
ancient past," noted a Nature research paper about the tablets.

This portion of the Bayeux Tapestry shows Halley's Comet during its
appearance in 1066.
Credit: Public domain

Halley's most famous appearance occurred shortly before the 1066

invasion of England by William the Conquerer. It is said that William felt
the comet heralded his success. In any case, the comet was put on the
Bayeux Tapestry which chronicles the invasion in William's honor.
Another appearance of the comet in 1301 possibly inspired Italian painter
Giotto's rendering of the Star of Bethlehem in "The Adoration of the
Magi," according to the Britannica encyclopedia.
Astronomers in these times, however, saw each appearance of Halley's
Comet as an isolated event. Comets were often foreseen as a sign of great
disaster or change.
Even when Shakespeare wrote his play "Julius Caesar" around 1600, just
105 years before Edmond Halley calculated that the comet returns over
and over again, one famous phrase spoke of comets as heralds: "When
beggars die there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze
forth the death of princes."
Discovery of Halley's recurrence
Astronomy began changing swiftly around the time of Shakespeare,
however. Many astronomers of his time held that Earth was the center of
the solar system, but Nicolaus Copernicus who died about 20 years
before Shakespeare's birth published findings showing that the center
was actually the sun.
It took several generations for Copernicus' calculations to take hold in the
astronomy community, but when they did, they provided a powerful
model for how objects move around the solar system and the universe.

Edmond Halley
Edmond Halley published "A Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets" in
1705, cataloguing what he had found from searching historical records of
24 comets appearing near Earth between 1337 to 1698. Three of those
observations appeared to be very similar in terms of orbit and other
parameters, leading Halley to propose that one comet might be visiting
Earth again and again.
The comet appeared in 1531, 1607 and 1682. Halley suggested the same
comet could return to Earth in 1758. Halley did not live long enough to see
its return he died in 1742 but his discovery inspired others to name the
comet after him.
On each successive journey to the inner solar system, astronomers on
Earth turned their telescopes skyward to watch Halley's approach.
The comet's pass in 1910 was particularly spectacular, as the comet flew
by about 13.9 million miles (22.4 million kilometers) from Earth, which is
about 1/15 the distance between Earth and the Sun. On that occasion,
Halley's wascaptured on camera for the first time.

According to biographer Albert Bigelow Paine, the writer Mark Twain said
in 1909, "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next
year, and I expect to go out with it." Twain died on April 21, 1910, one day
after perihelion, when the comet emerged from the far side of the sun.

This photo of Halley's comet was taken by the Russian Vega 2 spacecraft,
one of two Soviet probes (Vega 1 was the other) to rendezvous with the
comet during its 1986 trip through the solar system in March 1986. The
closest approach of Vega 1 to Halley was 8890 km while Vega 2 had a
close encounter at 8030 km.
Credit: ESA

Halley's in the Space Age

When Halley's Comet came by Earth in 1986, it was the first time we could
send spacecraft up to look at it.
That was a fortunate occurrence, as the comet ended up being
underwhelming in observations from Earth. When the comet made its
closest approach to the sun, it was on the opposite side of that star from
the Earth making it a faint and distant object, some 39 million miles
away from Earth.

Several spacecraft successfully made the journey to the comet. This fleet
of spaceships is sometimes dubbed the "Halley Armada." Two joint
Soviet/French probes (Vega 1 and 2) flew nearby, with one of them
capturing pictures of the heart or nucleus of the comet for the first time.
The European Space Agency's Giotto got even closer to the nucleus,
beaming back spectacular images to Earth. Japan sent two probes of its
own (Sakigake and Suisei) that also obtained information on Halley.

Additionally, NASA's International Cometary Explorer (already in orbit

since 1978) captured pictures of Halley from 17.3 million miles (28 million
kilometers away.)
"It was inevitable that this most famous of all comets would receive
unprecedented attention, but the actual magnitude of the effort has
surprised even most of those involved in it," NASA noted in an account of
the event.
Sadly, the astronauts aboard Challenger's STS-51L mission were also
scheduled to look at the telescope when they arrived in the orbit, but they
never got the chance. The shuttle exploded about two minutes after
launch on Jan. 28, 1986, due to a rocket malfunction.
It will be many decades until Halley's gets close to Earth again, but in the
meantime you can see its remnants every year. The Orionid meteor
shower, which is spawned by Halley's fragments, occurs annually in
October. Halley's also produced a shower in May, called the Eta Aquarids.
When Halley's sweeps by Earth in 2061, the comet will be on the same
side of the sun as Earth and will be much brighter than in 1986.
One astronomer predicted it could be as bright as apparent magnitude
-0.3. This is relatively bright, but well below that of the brightest star in
Earth's sky: Sirius, at magnitude -1.4 as seen from Earth.
Elizabeth Howell, SPACE.com Contributor
AUTHORBIO

ElizabethHowell,Space.comContributor
ElizabethHowellisacontributingwriterforSpace.comwhoisoneofthefewCanadianjournaliststo
reportregularlyonspaceexploration.SheispursuingaPh.D.part-timeinaerospacesciences
(UniversityofNorthDakota)aftercompletinganM.Sc.(spacestudies)atthesameinstitution.Shealso
holdsabachelorofjournalismdegreefromCarletonUniversity.Besideswriting,Elizabethteaches
communicationsattheuniversityandcommunitycollegelevel.Toseeherlatestprojects,follow
ElizabethonTwitterat @HowellSpace.
ElizabethHowell,Space.comContributor on
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