Heliocodex

Every world / Comet

Halley's Comet

Outline The numbers here are measured. The rest of this page is being written.

NeptuneUranusSaturnSun
The path of Halley's Comet round the Sun, seen from above and drawn to scale, with the white dot at its nearest point. The faint rings are the paths of Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune; it crosses the paths of Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Orbit from NASA/JPL Small-Body Database.
Kind
Comet
Distance
17.93 au from the Sun on average
Once round
75.92 years
Path
a long oval (eccentricity 0.968), tilted 162°
Size
11 km across

The most famous comet, back about every 76 years. Five spacecraft met it in 1986.

The SunOn the atlasIn 3D

Still being written

  1. Its tail and its head
  2. Its path round the Sun
  3. How it was found
  4. Spacecraft that have visited
  5. When to see it

Sources: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database.