Halley's Comet

(proper noun)

A very bright comet that is visible from earth every 75-76 years. Mark Twain, one of the greatest and most influential American writers, was born and died during appearances by Haily's comet.

Related Terms

Examples of Halley's Comet in the following topics:

  • The Bayeux Tapestry

    • Images in the cloth include depictions of William, Duke of Normandy; the coronation and death of the English King Harold; the Battle of Hastings; and even Halley's Comet.
    • The picture of Halley's Comet, which appears in the upper border (scene 32), is the first known picture of this comet.

  • An Invitation

    • In 1758 Charles Messier mistook the nebula for the returning Halley's comet.
    • After noticing that the fuzzy object did not move relative to the stars, he concluded that it was not the comet and perhaps more importantly that he ought to make a catalogue of fuzzy (non-stellar) objects in the firmament so that he wouldn't make the same mistake again.

  • Momentum Transfer and Radiation Pressure Atom

    • Perhaps one of the most well know examples of the radiation pressure would be comet tails.
    • Haley's comet is shown in .
    • As a comet approaches the inner Solar System, solar radiation causes the volatile materials within the comet to vaporize and stream out of the nucleus.
    • The streams of dust and gas thus released form an atmosphere around the comet (called the coma), and the force exerted on the coma by the Sun's radiation pressure and solar wind cause the formation of an enormous tail that points away from the Sun.

  • Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. "Mark Twain"

    • Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet , and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well.
    • Amazingly, his prediction came true, as he died the day after the comet's return.

  • Scientific Exploration

    • In 1705, Halley correctly linked historical descriptions of particularly bright comets to the reappearance of just one (later named Halley’s Comet), based on his computation of the orbits of comets.
    • Initially identified as a comet, the celestial body later came to be accepted as a planet.

  • Norman Painting

    • Images in the cloth include depictions of William, Duke of Normandy; the coronation and death of the English King Harold; the Battle of Hastings; and even Halley's Comet.

  • Newton's Method

    • This algorithm is first in the class of Householder's methods, succeeded by Halley's method.

  • Applications of the Parabola

    • Aircraft used to create a weightless state for purposes of experimentation, such as NASA's "Vomit Comet," follow a vertically parabolic trajectory for brief periods.

  • Parts of an Ellipse

    • The orbits of comets around the sun can be much more eccentric.
    • For comets and planets, the sun is located at one focus of their elliptical orbits.

  • Physics and Mathematics

    • However, Tycho challenged the Aristotelian model when he observed a comet that went through the region of the planets.
    • This region was said to only have uniform circular motion on solid spheres, which meant that it would be impossible for a comet to enter into the area.
    • By deriving Kepler's laws of planetary motion from his mathematical description of gravity, and then using the same principles to account for the trajectories of comets, the tides, the precession of the equinoxes, and other phenomena, Newton removed the last doubts about the validity of the heliocentric model of the cosmos.