When will the famed Halley's Comet make another appearance in our skies?

Hills, valleys, and craters cover the core of Halley's comet. It has an elongated, elliptical orbit and arrives near the Sun once every 76 years on average. Its emergence was once supposed to foreshadow significant historical events. It undoubtedly established Mark Twain's life dates, appearing in the years of his birth and death. Here is Halley's Comet, a massive wanderer from the solar system's fringes.

Its nucleus measures 14.9 x 8.2 kilometers. The gaseous tail Halley’s Comet produces as it approaches the Sun can be millions of kilometers long. The ice collected in the comet’s porous nucleus then begins to heat up rapidly. Under the influence of the temperature it sublimates — it goes directly from a solid to a gaseous state. This causes the comet’s head to form and grow. The solar wind is responsible for the appearance of the characteristic tail.

Halley’s Comet loses about 250 million tons of material during one pass near the Sun. Just how huge it is is best indicated by the fact that it will have something to lose for another 170,000 years.

Halley’s Comet — historical observations

The first mention of Halley’s Comet can be found in the chronicles of Chinese astronomers Shih Chi and Wen Hsien Thung Khao, written around 240 BC. When the comet returned to our night sky in 164 BC and 87 BC, its appearance was recorded in Babylonian records, now held at the British Museum in London.

The most famous appearance of this huge comet occurred shortly before William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066. William reportedly believed that Halley’s comet heralded his success. In any case, it was featured on a Bayeux tapestry. This fabric is something of a chronicle of William the Conqueror’s invasion of England.

Halley’s Comet — how comets were studied in ancient times

Medieval astronomers, who were half scientists and half fortune-tellers, often identified the appearance of comets with natural disasters, famines, or war. After all, a burning “star” could not bring anything good. Shakespeare, writing his play “Julius Caesar” around 1600, included the now famous phrase in the drama:

“When beggars die, no comets are seen; The heavens themselves light up the death of princes.”

Our knowledge of what comets are and how they move dates back to Nicolaus Copernicus and the heliocentric theory. This theory was confirmed, based on observations of a comet, by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. In 1577 he stated that the comet he observed was farther away from the Earth than the Moon. Brahe’s observations gained widespread recognition. However, it took many years before the scientific community came to a consensus on the nature of comets.

Johanes Kepler, the great mechanic of the sky, considered comets to be bodies that only pass through our planetary system. Johannes Hevelius supposed that the orbits of some comets may be parabolas, in the focus of which the Sun is located.

Halley’s Comet — history of discovery

Only a breakthrough, which was the invention of the telescope in the 17th century, allowed more precise observations of comets and their orbits. At the turn of 1667 and 1668 Stanisław Lubieniecki prepared the first catalog of known comets “Theatrum cometicum”, in which he collected information about comets discovered in the first half of the 17th century. Only 20 years later Isaac Newton in his work “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” argued that comets move on conic curves — their focal points are the Sun.

But it was Newton’s student, Edmund Halley, who seriously took up the study of comets. He had looked at and calculated the orbits of many other comets before he came across a particularly bright comet during his observations in 1682. It was the one spotted in 1682 that represented a breakthrough. The scientist reviewed previous observational data and calculated that this comet appears in our sky periodically, once every 76 years. He suggested that it would appear again in 1758. Unfortunately, he also did not live to see the moment. However, the work he did was forever recognized in the name of the stellar wanderer.

Halley’s Comet — modern observations

During each successive trip of Halley’s Comet to the inner Solar System, astronomers point their telescopes at the glowing “star” with a long tail. Halley’s Comet passed Earth at a distance of only 22.4 million kilometers, or roughly one-fifth the distance between the Earth and the Sun. The Earth then passed through the comet’s tail.

Since it was not known what it consisted of or why it was so dense, there was widespread panic. Gas masks were bought out of stores and even occasional wishes were made. Here’s an example:

“Before the arrival of the terrible comet, when we die together unfortunately, on the eve of this event I send you my last wishes”

At that time, Halley’s comet was also captured on camera for the first time.

76 years later, to meet the comet set off a whole cluster of spacecraft equipped with, among others, cameras. “Halley’s Armada” — was the name given to a group of probes whose mission was to study Halley’s comet. The first images of the comet nucleus were captured by the Vega 1 and 2 probes, which were part of a space collaboration between Russia and France.

Japan also sent its spacecraft to the vicinity of Halley’s Comet. I’m talking about the Sakigake and Suisei probes. NASA, in turn, has redirected the eye of the International Cometary Explorer spacecraft, already in orbit, to the comet. However, it was the European Space Agency spacecraft named Giotto that came closest to Halley’s comet nucleus and sent stunning images back to Earth.

In what year will Halley’s comet return again?

It will be another few decades before Halley’s comet comes close to Earth again. This will not occur until 2061.

Before that happens, you can see remnants of the comet every year. The meteor shower that occurs in October, called the Orionids, is the very remnants of Halley’s comet’s passage. It forms from discarded pieces of the comet.