Comet Halley

      Halley’s Comet reappears approximately every 76 years; this photograph, taken in New Zealand in 1986, shows the comet during its most recent approach to the sun. Comets become visible near the sun because solar radiation vaporizes parts of the icy nucleus, forming the comet’s coma and tail.→

Early Comet Halley's sighting

This drawing is based on part of the 11th century Bayeaux Tapestry. The tapestry depicts an early sighting of the comet later named for Edmund Halley.