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A retrospective look at Halley’s Comet

February 3rd 2008 07:18

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Image Of Halley's Comet taken March 8, 1986 Credit: W. Liller, Easter Island, part of the International Halley Watch (IHW) Large Scale Phenomena Network.

The summers where long and the stars clear and bright, living on a farm in rural Australia had its advantages.

No television to watch at night, soon other “stars” caught my attention; I began to learn about astronomy. Reading anything I could get my hands on regarding the planets the stars and the universe. After many months of saving my pocket money I had enough to buy a small telescope for the princely sum of 18 Australian pounds. Needless to say that the fascination has lasted 55 years and counting.
Looking at the Moon and planets was and still is fascinating, I wanted to explore further , looking at nebulas and star clusters.
Reading about comets aroused my curiosity even further. I read articles regarding Halley’s Comet and the predicted return in 1986 for me that was almost 30 years in the future.
I recall my father telling me about the great comet he saw as a boy the year was 1910 the return of Halley’s Comet caused a great deal of interest worldwide. It was the year that the Earth’s passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet producing some spectacular meteor showers.
The years passed quickly 1986,marked the return Of Halley’s comet (unfortunately my father had passed away in 1985 he would have been one of the few who would see the comet return spanning two centuries.)

I remember fondly the first time I saw Halley’s Comet, it was early in the morning just before dawn you see what looked like a bright star with thin wispy tail. I guess the reason this comet has become popular is because it has been making return visits every 76 years perhaps for millennia.

Not a great deal of information was known about the composition of comets the only images available were taken from earth based telescopes showing only marginal detailed. The images improved in 1980s when space craft were used get much more detailed images of the comet to see into the "heart "of the comet to study its makeup and function.

Giotto spacecraft during the Halley encounter on March 13, 1986. The nucleus is estimated to be about 16 by 8 by 8 kilometers:NASA image

( According to ancient Chinese records have made reference to a “Broom- Star” as early as 468 BC)
The comet make famous by Edmond Halley back in 1705 the same year he made a prediction the comet would return in 1758. Halley concluded that three comets in astronomical records from 1531, 1607 and 1682 had very similar orbits, therefore he speculated that the three different comets dated 1531, 1607,1682 where actually one comet not three.

A view from the Soviet spacecraft Vega 2 passing through the comet's coma, passing within 8000 km of the nucleus.

The comet arrived on cue right on Christmas night in 1758. Sadly, Halley was unable to bask in any glory because he'd died 16 years earlier. The next opportunity to observe it will be in 2062.

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