Giotto Flyby of Halley's Comet (1986.03.14)

Images of comet Halley's nucleus taken by the Halley Multicolour Camera on board ESA's Giotto spacecraft were processed to produce this video sequence depicting the close fly-by of the comet on March 14, 1986, the first-ever close encounter of a comet's nucleus.

credit: ESA

source: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=14610

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Halley's Comet
• Giotto spacecraft
• ESA

[TheHevquip]

i saw halley's comet in '86 when i was 4 and just about too young to remember it. next time it comes by, i'll be too old to either see or my memory will be bad enough i won't remember it the day after, lulz.

[djxatlanta]

@TheHevquip - Hale-Bopp was much better show when you were 15 -- I'm sure you saw that... it was visible everywhere from the northern hemisphere and was quite bright. And there will undoubtedly be equally bright comets between now and then.

[shanelewis121]

will it hitus

[djxatlanta]

@shanelewis121 - No. Although if you'll be alive in June and July 2061, it will be a beautiful site in the evening sky. There are asteroids that come relatively close to Earth all the time -- but none are in danger of striking us anytime soon. You can check all the upcoming asteroid approaches on spaceweather[dot]com -- on October 30, a small asteroid will pass by Earth 5 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon, which is quite close.

[jennybabe8]

When will Halley come? can you also see it at holland?

[djxatlanta]

@jennybabe8 - In the spring and early summer of 2061. In fact, on the night of June 19 and July 21, 2061, it's going to be a GORGEOUS sight just after sunset -- Halley's Comet will be in the sky right next to the crescent moon, and the bright planet Venus will be nearby. But there will most certainly be many bright comets visible to the naked eye between now and then.

[SuperUniverse555]

0:17 Scary......

[RockoAndJaviar]

I came in with the comet, and i'll go out with the comet.

[TheHevquip]

@djxatlanta yeah, unfortunately the most i remember about hale-bopp was the whole heaven's gate suicide cult thing and their white nikes and not the comet itself. i saw some clips on here of meteors that lit up the night sky brighter than most days when they burnt up upon entry, i'd really like to see something like that in my parts. watched a meteor shower a few weeks ago, but looking forward to seeing another comet.

[ScratchyBeardCoach]

@shanelewis121 Yes. Headin right for us on a head on collision. Be very worried.