Ask questions via twitter! Message any question to @answers on twitter. We'll publish the question and send you a reply each time there's a new answer.
Next Question

Question

 
 M¢25  Funded By Mahalo ? |  June 15, 2009 02:57 PM

Is haleys comet tonight? Does anyone know LOL

Interesting Question?  Yes (0)   No (0)   
Email to a friend | RSS
 
 

 
   No Best Answer Selected
 
 


Answers (3)

Sort By
 
June 15, 2009 03:08 PM | view on twitter
No. Halley's Comet doesn't just "appear" for one night. It typically will be visible for a couple days to weeks.

Wikipedia says "The next predicted perihelion of Halley's Comet is July 28, 2061."
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Halley


Helpful Answer?  (1)   (0)   

Helpful: metalsand

Tip drmatt for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
 
June 16, 2009 08:41 AM | view on twitter
Comet Halley is currently too faint to see through any telescope, since it's further from the sun than Neptune. However, given a large enough telescope and a long enough exposure time, the comet can be imaged at any point in its orbit, so in a sense it can be "seen" whenever it's in the nighttime sky:

http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2003/phot-27-03.html

Halley's next passage through the inner solar system occurs in 2061, 52 years from now. See my previous Best Answer to a similar question for more information:

http://www.mahalo.com/answers/science-and-mathematics/does-anybody-know-whens-the-next-haleys-comet

Tags: comet, astronomy, halley

Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip badaspie for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
 
June 17, 2009 11:22 PM
The previous answers already dealt with where Halley is and why you can't see it right now. But you asked "*IS* Halley's comet tonight?"

Technically, comet Halley exists every night, and every day. It's out there whether you can see it or not. It travels far out beyond the large planets in our solar system, then sweeps back in nearing the sun, and repeats every 75.3 Earth years. So *IS* the comet tonight? Sure it is! It's tonight, it's today, it's tomorrow, it's every day! It's out there! Can you SEE it in tonight's sky? No; not with any instrument you have available on Earth at the moment. But maybe in 2061! (Bring a good book and a sandwich if you're going to wait up for it tonight, okay?)


Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip bugsi for this answer
Permalink | Report
   Reply  
 
 
Buy Mahalo Dollars with Credit Card or PayPal

Top Members

This Week All Time
  • buddawiggi
    buddawiggi
    2nd Degree Black Belt
    26710 Points
    M$774.34 Earned
  • kty2777
    kty2777
    Purple Belt with a Brown Tip
    5216 Points
    M$196.67 Earned
  • opher
    opher
    Purple Belt
    3852 Points
    M$152.92 Earned
   See All
 

Most Popular Tags

mahalo(1557)
iphone(459)
music(458)
google(346)
food(308)
online(286)
beer(275)
money(260)
movies(248)
apple(248)
aotd(235)
health(216)
video(200)
free(200)
dog(200)
   See All
 

Categories

Welcome New Members


 
 
Mahalo Dollars are the currency of Mahalo Answers.

Each Mahalo Dollar costs $1.

Once you earn more than 40 Mahalo Dollars, you can request to be paid via PayPal. Each Mahalo Dollar is currently worth $0.75 when paid out via PayPal. Learn More

 
 

Please log in to use this function.