# Halley's Comet

**Section:** Apparitions

| 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. |