Halley Through the Years Distance from Sun (a.u.) Days from Perihelion 164 BC September 3 0.11 -44 Recorded on Babylonian tablets 1378 October 13 0.12 -38 Swept <10° from Polaris (Korea) 1835 October 12 0.19 -35 1st mag. 20° to 30° tail 1301 September 23 0.18 -32 Giotto's " Christmas Star " 12 BC September 9 0.16 -31 Death of Roman General Agrippa 1607 September 24 0.24 -28 Observed by Johannes Kepler 684 September 6 0.26 -26 Depicted in Nuremberg Chronicles 530 September 2 0.28 -25 " Lamp-like " (Byzantium) 1222 September 5 0.31 -23 " Red with a great tail " (Europe) 989 August 20 0.39 -16 " Broom Star " (China/Japan/Korea) 1682 August 31 0.42 -15 Observed by Edmond Halley 1531 August 14 0.44 -12 Observed by Petrus Apianus 87 BC July 27 0.44 -10 " Bushy star " (China) 912 July 15 0.49 -3 " Broom star " (Japan) 2061 July 29 0.48 +1 Next predicted return 451 June 30 0.49 +2 Attila's loss; Battle of Châlons 240 BC June 3 0.45 +9 " Broom Star " (China) 1456 June 18 0.45 +9 " Long tail like a dragon " (Turkey) 295 May 11 0.32 +11 " Broom star in west " (China) 218 May 30 0.42 +13 Caused panic in Rome 760 June 2 0.41 +13 White tail (China) 1145 May 12 0.27 +24 Pictured in Eadwine's Psalter 141 April 21 0.17 +30 Shone pale blue (China) 1910 May 20 0.15 +30 Tail >120° (USA); mag. -1.2 1066 April 23 0.10 +34 Rendered on the Bayeux Tapestry 607 April 19 0.09 +35 Anomalously bright (mag. -2.4) 837 April 10 0.03 +41 Very bright; >90° tail (China) 2134 May 7 0.09 +41 Closest approach since 837 374 April 1 0.09 +44 " Sparkling star " (China) 1759 April 26 0.12 +44 First predicted return 66 March 20 0.25 +54 " Sword " hanging over Jerusalem 1986 April 10 0.42 +60 Worst apparition in 2,000 years! HALLE Y ENGR AVING: LE MAG ASIN PIT TORESQUE / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / PUBLIC DO M AIN; H A LLE Y'S CO ME T IN 1531: SCIENCE HISTORY IM AG ES / A L A M Y STOCK PHOTO Date of Perigee Historical Notes In the table above are details for all 30 previous apparitions dating back to 240 BC and the future apparitions of 2061 and 2134. Apparitions are listed in order of ascending number of days from perihelion. Column 1 provides the date of perigee - when Halley is closest to Earth. Column 2 gives the distance in astronomical units. Column 3 indicates the number of days either before (-) or after (+) perihelion that the comet is from the date of perigee. Finally, column 4 cites a historical reference associated with that particular apparition. S HALLEY IN 1835 This engraving of the comet's 19th-century return appeared in the French publication Le Magasin Pittoresque (The Picturesque Store). During its 1835 appearance, Halley shone at 1st magnitude and sported an impressive tail 20° to 30° long. S THE TAIL OF 1531 Halley is depicted moving through the constellation Leo in this fanciful artwork by Petrus Apianus. He observed the comet in 1531 and the following year published his discovery that a comet's tail always points away from the Sun. s k y a n d t e l e s c o p e . o r g * J U LY 2 0 2 1 61http://www.skyandtelescope.org