Halley's Comet
Apparitions
Halley's calculations enabled the comet's earlier appearances to be found in the historical record. The following table sets out the astronomical designations for every apparition of Halley's Comet from 240 BC, the earliest documented widespread sighting.

Halley's Comet

Section Title: Apparitions
Table Section Text: Halley's calculations enabled the comet's earlier appearances to be found in the historical record. The following table sets out the astronomical designations for every apparition of Halley's Comet from 240 BC, the earliest documented widespread sighting.

Designation	Year BC/AD	Gap (years)	Date of perihelion	Visible duration	Closest approach	Description

1P/−239 K1, −239	240 BC	–	15 May	15 – 25 May	First confirmed sighting.

1P/−163 U1, −163	164 BC	76	20 May	Seen by Babylonians.

1P/−86 Q1, −86	87 BC	77	15 August	6 – 19 August	Seen by the Babylonians and Chinese.

1P/−11 Q1, −11	12 BC	75	8 October	August – 10 October	0.16 AU	Watched by Chinese for two months.

1P/66 B1, 66	66	78	26 January	25 – 26 January	May be the comet described in Josephus's The Jewish War as 'A comet of the kind called Xiphias, because their tails appear to represent the blade of a sword' that supposedly heralded the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD.

1P/141 F1, 141	141	75	25 March	22 – 25 March	Described by the Chinese as bluish-white in colour. Described in Tamil literature and death of Chera (Yanaikatchai Mantaran Cheral Irumporai) king after appearance of comet.

1P/218 H1, 218	218	77	6 April	6 April – 17 May	Described by the Roman historian Dion Cassius as 'a very fearful star'.

1P/295 J1, 295	295	77	7 April	7 – 20 April	Seen in China, but not spectacular.

1P/374 E1, 374	374	79	13 February	13 – 16 February	0.09 AU	Comet passed 13.5 million kilometres from Earth.

1P/451 L1, 451	451	77	3 July	28 June – 3 July	Appeared before the defeat of Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons.

1P/530 Q1, 530	530	79	15 November	27 September – 15 November	Noted in China and Europe, but not spectacular.

1P/607 H1, 607	607	77	26 March	15 – 26 March	0.09 AU	Comet passed 13.5 million kilometres from Earth.

1P/684 R1, 684	684	77	26 November	2 October – 26 November	First known Japanese records of the comet. Seen in Europe and depicted 800 years later in the Nuremberg Chronicle.

1P/760 K1, 760	760	76	10 June	20 May – 10 June	Seen in China, at the same time as another comet.

1P/837 F1, 837	837	77	25 February	25 – 28 February	0.03 AU	Closest-ever approach to the Earth (5 million km). Tail stretched halfway across the sky. Appeared as bright as Venus.

1P/912 J1, 912	912	75	27 July	18 – 27 July	Seen briefly in China and Japan.

1P/989 N1, 989	989	77	2 September	2 – 5 September	Seen in China, Japan, and (possibly) Korea.

1P/1066 G1, 1066	1066	77	25 March	January – 25 March	0.10 AU	Seen for over two months in China. Recorded in England and depicted on the later Bayeux tapestry which portrayed the events of that year.

1P/1145 G1, 1145	1145	79	19 April	15 – 19 April	Depicted on the Eadwine Psalter, with the remark that such 'hairy stars' appeared rarely, 'and then as a portent'.

1P/1222 R1, 1222	1222	77	10 September	10 – 28 September	Described by Japanese astronomers as being 'as large as the half Moon ..

1P/1301 R1, 1301	1301	79	22 October	22 – 31 October	Seen by Giotto di Bondone and included in his painting The Adoration of the Magi. Chinese astronomers compared its brilliance to that of the first-magnitude star Procyon.

1P/1378 S1, 1378	1378	77	9 November	9 – 14 November	Passed within 10 degrees of the north celestial pole, more northerly than at any time during the past 2000 years. This is the last appearance of the comet for which Oriental records are better than Western ones.

1P/1456 K1, 1456	1456	78	8 January	8 January – 9 June	Observed in Italy by Paolo Toscanelli, who said its head was 'as large as the eye of an ox', with a tail 'fan-shaped like that of a peacock'.

1P/1531 P1, 1531	1531	75	26 August	26 August	Seen by Peter Apian, who noted that its tail always pointed away from the Sun. This sighting was included in Halley's table.

1P/1607 S1, 1607	1607	76	27 October	27 October	Seen by Johannes Kepler. This sighting was included in Halley's table.

1P/1682 Q1, 1682	1682	75	15 September	15 September	Seen by Edmond Halley at Islington.

1P/1758 Y1, 1759 I	1758	76	13 March	13 March – 25 December	Return predicted by Halley. First seen by Johann Palitzsch on 1758 December 25.

1P/1835 P1, 1835 III	1835	77	16 November	August – 16 November	First seen at the Vatican Observatory in August. Studied by John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope.

1P/1909 R1, 1910 II, 1909c	1910	75	20 April	20 April – 20 May	Photographed for the first time. Earth passed through the comet's tail on 20 May.

1P/1982 U1, 1986 III, 1982i	1986	76	9 February	9 February	0.586 AU	Reached perihelion on 9 February, closest to Earth (63 million km) on 11 April. Nucleus photographed by the European space probe Giotto and the Russian probes Vega 1 and 2.

2061	75	28 July	28 July 2061	Next return of Halley's comet.

Sentence(s)

The approaches in 374 and 607 AD each came within 0.09 AU of Earth.

final_sentence: The approaches in 374 and 607 AD each came within 0.09 AU of Earth.