Edmond Halley in the context of "Halley's Comet"

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⭐ Core Definition: Edmond Halley

Edmond (or Edmund) Halley FRS (/ˈhæli/; 8 November [O.S. 29 October] 1656 – 25 January 1742 [O.S. 14 January 1741]) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720.

From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, Halley catalogued the southern celestial hemisphere and recorded a transit of Mercury across the Sun. He realised that a similar transit of Venus could be used to determine the distances between Earth, Venus, and the Sun. Upon his return to England, he was made a fellow of the Royal Society, and with the help of King Charles II, was granted a master's degree from Oxford.

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In this Dossier

Edmond Halley in the context of St George's Channel

St George's Channel (Welsh: Sianel San Siôr, Irish: Muir Bhreatan) is a sea channel connecting the Irish Sea to the north and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It separates Wexford on the southeastern corner of Ireland from St Davids in on the southwestern tip of Wales.

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Edmond Halley in the context of Halley's comet

Halley's Comet is the only known short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, though with the majority of recorded apparitions (25 of 30) occurring after 75–77 years. It last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061. Officially designated 1P/Halley, it is also commonly called Comet Halley, or sometimes simply Halley.

Halley's periodic returns to the inner Solar System have been observed and recorded by astronomers around the world since at least 240 BC, but it was not until 1705 that the English astronomer Edmond Halley understood that these appearances were re-appearances of the same comet. As a result of this discovery, the comet is named after Halley.

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Edmond Halley in the context of Solar eclipse of May 3, 1715

A total solar eclipse occurred on 3 May 1715. It was known as Halley's Eclipse, after Edmond Halley (1656–1742) who predicted this eclipse to within 4 minutes accuracy. Halley observed the eclipse from London where the city of London enjoyed 3 minutes 33 seconds of totality. He also drew a predictive map showing the path of totality across the Kingdom of Great Britain. The original map was about 20 miles off the observed eclipse path, mainly due to his use of inaccurate lunar ephemeris. After the eclipse, he corrected the eclipse path, and added the path and description of the 1724 total solar eclipse.

Drawing upon lunar tables made by the first Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed, William Whiston produced a more technical predictive eclipse map around the same time as Halley. Both Halley's and Whiston's maps were published by John Senex in March 1715.

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Edmond Halley in the context of Richard Phillips (English painter)

Richard Phillips or Philips (1681–1741) was a British portrait painter.

Phillips was born in London. His portrait of Edmond Halley (1656-1742) hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, and his portrait of William Lowndes (1652-1724) hangs in the Bank of England.

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Edmond Halley in the context of Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri (ω Cen, NGC 5139, or Caldwell 80) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus that was first identified as a non-stellar object by Edmond Halley in 1677. Located at a distance of 17,090 light-years (5,240 parsecs), it is the largest known globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years. It is estimated to contain approximately 10 million stars, with a total mass of 4 million solar masses, making it the most massive known globular cluster in the Milky Way.

Omega Centauri is very different from most other galactic globular clusters to the extent that it is thought to have originated as the core remnant of a disrupted dwarf galaxy. There is evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole in the dense core of this cluster, although this is disputed.

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