On 26 August 1682, English astronomer Edmond Halley personally observed a comet streaking across the night sky. It was not his first professional study, but this sighting would become the foundation of one of astronomy’s most famous discoveries.
Halley recorded the comet’s path, brightness and movement, comparing it to past observations in 1531 and 1607. In 1705, after applying his friend Isaac Newton’s newly published laws of motion, Halley concluded that these were not three different comets, but the same one returning at regular intervals. He predicted its reappearance in 1758, and when it returned right on schedule, the comet was named in his honour (although sadly, Halley did not live to see himself proven right).
Halley’s Comet is now recognised as a periodic comet with an orbit of roughly 75–79 years. It is one of the few comets bright enough to be visible to the naked eye. Its last visit was in 1986, and it is expected again in 2061.
Long before Halley’s calculation, the comet had a dramatic reputation. Historical records trace it back to at least 240 BC in Chinese chronicles, and it was famously depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry as an omen before the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Across cultures, comets were often seen as harbingers of disaster, war, or the death of kings.
Today, Halley’s Comet stands as both a scientific milestone and a cultural icon. It symbolises the shift from superstition to science- from fear of the unknown to the ability to predict celestial events with accuracy.
Halley himself never lived to see his prediction confirmed, but his name became immortal in the skies.
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