How did Halley's Comet get its name?

Answer 1

Halley's comet got its name from Sir Edmund Halley who, using Newton's laws of motion, predicted that the comet seen in 1531, 1607, and 1682 would return in 1758. Unfortunately, Halley died before seeing the comet return, but when it returned just as he had predicted, the comet was named in his honour by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1759.
Halley's Comet was named for Edmond Halley, the English astronomer who identified it as a periodic comet.

Answer 2

Halley's Comet is named after the astronomer Edmond Halley, who predicted its return in 1758 based on observations of previous comets. It was officially named after him to honor his work in understanding the comet's orbit and periodicity.

Answer 3

Chinese astronomers noted the regular cycles of Halley's comet in the years following its appearance in 239 BC. English astronomer Edmond Halley (1656-1742) studied the behavior of the comet after its appearance in 1702. It was named in his honor after his death, following his correctly predicted return of the comet in 1758. Halley was familiar with the theories of Sir Isaac newton and encouraged him to write the Principia, which Halley published for Newton in 1687 at his own expense. He applied Newton's laws of motion to comets to demonstrate that comets move in elliptic orbits around the sun, proving that comets are part of the solar system.

Answer 4

There is no absolute certainty about how Halley's Comet formed. Most likely it is a collection of metal particles, oxides, and water ice collected from the Oort Cloud, a region of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune. From time to time objects in the Oort Cloud are pulled out of their distant orbits by the pull of Jupiter and Saturn and they come slicing through the main part of the solar system. Close passes to planets can speed them up or slow them down, and at some long distant time Halley's orbit changed to its present shape. It will probably crash into a planet eventually, or be forced too close to the sun and disappear forever.

Answer 5

The comet may have come from an area close to Uranus. It last appeared in 1986, and is due to appear again in the year 2061.