Halley’s Comet Begins to Approach Earth After Being Away for 38 Years

SPACE — Halley’s Comet begins to turn toward Earth after hurtling away from Earth for nearly 40 years. On Saturday (9/12/2022), the comet is expected to reach its farthest point from the Sun (aphelion) at a distance of around 35 astronomical units (AU) or around 35 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

According to the American Space Agency (NASA), this distance has far exceeded the orbit of Neptune, and is almost at the same distance as Pluto which orbits at a distance of about 39 AU. This is the midpoint of Halley’s 76-year orbit of the sun.

For the past 38 years or so, the comet has been moving millions of kilometers farther from us every day. Now, the comet will spend the next 38 years getting closer to Earth.

Reporting from Live Science, Halley’s last approach to the sun (perihelion) occurred on February 9, 1986. At that time, Halley’s comet dived to a distance of 87.8 million km from the sun. It is about 0.58 AU from the sun or just inside the orbit of Venus.

Astronomers have not seen the comet at all since 2003. Since then, Halley’s comet has been too small and dim to see.

Comets are balls of ice and dust that orbit the sun. Comets are famous for their “tails” so they are often called tailed stars. Comet tails form when solar radiation vaporizes ice particles in the comet’s body, causing gas and dust to flow behind it.

Founded by Edmond Halley

Halley’s Comet is the first comet predicted to return to Earth’s sky. Astronomer Edmond Halley observed the comet in 1682 without knowing exactly what it was. At that time, he nicknamed him the “hairy star”.

Halley compared his observations with similar sightings reported in 1531 and 1607. He hypothesized that all three sightings were repeated sightings of the same object. Halley predicted the object would appear again in 1758 and it did.

Halley, who died in 1742, was never able to confirm his predictions, although future scientists eventually named the comet after him.

Halley’s Comet made its next closest approach to the sun on July 28, 2061. Until then, we can witness the sparkling legacy of the “feathered star” twice a year, during two meteor showers.

The Delta Aquariid meteor shower in May and the Orionid meteor shower in October occur when old debris from Halley’s Comet falls through Earth’s atmosphere and burns up as a “shooting star.”