http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/tags/Daniel+Pendick/comets/default.aspxTags: Daniel Pendick, cometsenCommunityServer 2007 SP2 (Build: 20611.960)http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/2008/12/25/ho-ho-ho-for-halley-s-comet.aspxThu, 25 Dec 2008 01:00:00 GMT5cad643e-09e9-4c3f-b1be-205e244b4f67:400821Daniel Pendick0http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=400821http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/astronomy/2008/12/25/ho-ho-ho-for-halley-s-comet.aspx#comments<p><span style="FONT-SIZE:10pt;FONT-FAMILY:&#39;Trebuchet MS&#39;;"><img title="Comet P/Halley" style="WIDTH:373px;HEIGHT:260px;" height="260" alt="Comet P/Halley" hspace="5" src="http://ipublish3.kalmbach.com/asy/objects/images/comet-halley.jpg" width="373" align="right" border="5" />On Christmas Day, 1758, a German amateur astronomer and farmer named Johann Georg Palitzsch did something that would have made a great Christmas gift for English astronomer Edmond Halley. Johann “recovered” Halley’s Comet, meaning he was the first to observe this previously observed “dirty snowball” as it returned to the inner solar system.</span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE:10pt;FONT-FAMILY:&#39;Trebuchet MS&#39;;"></span><span style="FONT-SIZE:10pt;COLOR:black;FONT-FAMILY:&#39;Trebuchet MS&#39;;">Edmond Halley (1656-1742) calculated the orbit of the comet that now bears his name based on previous sightings. He determined that the same comet was responsible for several sightings spaced about 75 years apart.</span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE:10pt;COLOR:black;FONT-FAMILY:&#39;Trebuchet MS&#39;;"></span><span style="FONT-SIZE:10pt;COLOR:black;FONT-FAMILY:&#39;Trebuchet MS&#39;;">By Halley’s reckoning, the comet would reappear in 1758 — that’s 250 years ago this Christmas. Unfortunately, he didn’t live to see his prediction proved correct.</span></p><span style="FONT-SIZE:10pt;COLOR:black;FONT-FAMILY:&#39;Trebuchet MS&#39;;"></span><span style="FONT-SIZE:10pt;COLOR:black;FONT-FAMILY:&#39;Trebuchet MS&#39;;">For the complete and detailed scoop on the recovery of Halley’s Comet, read this treasure-trove of information and images by master comet observer <a class="" href="http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/controlpanel/blogs/://cometography.com/kronk_observatory/about.html" target="_blank">Gary W. Kronk</a>, author of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal;"><a class="" href="http://cometography.com/pcomets/001p.html" target="_blank">Cometography</a></i> book series.</span> <p>&nbsp;</p><img src="http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/aggbug.aspx?PostID=400821" width="1" height="1">Daniel Pendicksolar systemhistorycomets