Halley's Comet

1682 In August, a bright comet appeared in the sky with a clearly visible tail and an arc shape. The appearance of this comet attracted the attention of almost all astronomers. At that time, the 26-year-old British astronomer Harley was particularly interested in this comet. He carefully observed and recorded the position of comets and their daily changes in the starry sky. After a period of observation, he was surprised to find that this comet seems to be not a new visitor to the earth for the first time, but an old friend who has met before.

In Harley's time, no one realized that comets would return to the sun regularly. Since Harley had this bold idea, he devoted himself to the observation and research of comets with great interest. After a lot of observation, research and calculation, he boldly predicted that the comet that appeared in 1682 would return again at the end of 1758 or the beginning of 1759. Harley was nearly 50 years old when he made this prediction, and it will be another 50 years before his prediction is correct. Realizing that he couldn't see the return of the comet with his own eyes, he said in a humorous and regretful tone: If the comet really returns in 1758 as I predicted, fair descendants will probably not refuse to admit that it was first discovered by an Englishman.

Many years after Harley's death 10, at the end of 1758, the first comet predicted to return was observed by an amateur astronomer, and it returned to the sun on time. Harley's prediction at the beginning of18th century was finally confirmed after more than half a century. Later generations named this comet "Halley's Comet" in memory of him.