Halley's Comet Essay

Our Solar System is vast and mysterious. The solar system contains but is not limited to planets, meteoroids, stars, and comets. Some of the most famous comets are Hale-Bopp, Swift-Tuttle. However, Halley’s Comet is the most famous due to its frequent returns to Earth. A comet is a celestial object consisting of a nucleus of ice and dust and, when near the sun, a “tail” of gas and dust particles pointing away from the sun. Halley’s Comet is most famous for its seventy-five year orbital. Edmund Halley, whom the comet is named after, thought that this comet was the same comet to have appeared in 1607 and 1531. Later, discovered to be factual, Halley estimated that this comet would return in seventy-five years. Halley’s comet is most famous

This was a Norman conquest of England. Many archaeologist searched for artifacts about this time period. When finding artifacts from this time frame, a Bayeux tapestry was found containing the comet’s appearance. The Bayeux tapestry was found in Bayeux Cathedral. The Bayeux tapestry contains over fifty images embroidered on linen with coloured woollen yarn.However, the best observations are said to come from China. The Chinese government has kept an eye on the sky at the official astronomical bureau for over 2000 years. Therefor, by having a close eye on the sky the Chinese have been able to collect some of the best research. The officials at the bureau would take note of anything unusual that took

The orbits of Halley’s comet suggests that it was once a long-period comet. Halley’s comet now is said to have originated from the Oort Cloud. Halley’s comet is well known for its odd shape compared to other comets. Halley’s comet has a peanut shape therefore it has an elliptical orbit. It’s orbit only allows Halley’s comet to get as close as 0.57 astronomical units to the Sun. This is actually closer than what Venus, planet second closest to the sun, gets. While the farthest it can orbit away from the Sun is thirty-five astronomical units. This is almost as far as Pluto is to our Sun. The color of the comet is darker than coal because it only reflects four percent of the total sunlight it receives. The nucleus of Halley’s comet is around fifteen kilometers long and eight kilometers thick. Halley’s comet is made up of hydrocarbons, water, iron, carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, and sodium. Halley’s comet can be seen with a naked eye. Every comet has a coma when it comes close to the sun. This coma is a fuzzy outline. Halley’s comet has a coma that stretches up to 100,000km