Halley's Comet: A Brilliant Return Journey

1 min read
Source: Phys.org
Halley's Comet: A Brilliant Return Journey
Photo: Phys.org
TL;DR

Halley's Comet, the famous periodic comet, reaches aphelion, its farthest point from the sun, on December 9th. This marks the midpoint between its last appearance in 1986 and its next expected appearance in 2061. At aphelion, the comet is located 35.14 AU (almost 3.3 billion miles or 5.3 billion kilometers) from the sun, beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is too far for amateur or professional telescopes to observe, and there are no plans for NASA to image it at this point. Halley's Comet has a rich historical significance and has been observed since ancient times.

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