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During its 1986 visit to the inner Solar System, Halley's Comet became the first comet to be observed in detail by spacecraft, providing the first observational data on the structure of a comet nucleus and the mechanism of coma and tail formation.
Aug 20, 2024 · Learn about Halley's Comet, the first comet whose return was predicted and the first to be imaged by spacecraft. Find out how it appeared in 1986 and what its nucleus and tail looked like.
- Paul Weissman
- The History of Halley's Comet
- Discovering Halley's Comet
- Halley-Like Comets
- Sending Spacecraft to Halley's Comet
- Additional Resources
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The first known observation of Halley's Comet, or Comet Halley, 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. Another study (based on models of Halley's orbit) pushes that first observation back to 466 B.C., which would have made it visib...
Astronomy began changing swiftly around Shakespeare's time, however. Many astronomers of his time believed 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' calculati...
There is a group of comets called "Halley family comets" (HFC) because they appear to share the same orbital characteristics of Halley, including being highly inclined to the orbits of Earth and other planets in the solar system. However, this family has a range of inclinations, which prompts other astronomers to suggest they may have a different o...
When Halley's Comet came by Earth in 1986, it was the first time we could send spacecraft to look at it up close. 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 ...
Learn about Halley's Comet, the most famous periodic comet that returns to Earth's vicinity every 75 years. Find out how it was observed and studied in 1986, and what it looked like from space and Earth.
- 3 min
- Elizabeth Howell
Dec 8, 2023 · Learn how Halley's Comet will return to the inner solar system after its last appearance in 1986 and what to expect from its brightness and tail in 2061. See the dates and distances of its encounters with planets and its closest approach to Earth.
Apr 23, 2022 · The Uranus connection is ironic because on January 24, 1986—just as Halley’s Comet was last at its closest to the Sun—NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft conducted a flyby of Uranus for humanity’s...
In 1986, the European spacecraft Giotto became one of the first spacecraft to encounter and photograph the nucleus of a comet, passing and imaging Halley's nucleus as it receded from the Sun.
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See images of Comet Halley captured by various international missions during its closest approach to the sun. Learn how the Deep Space Network supported these missions with telemetry, command and/or navigation.
