A real time simulation of the Halley comet during the summer of 1986
Until the time of English astronomer Edmond Halley (1656-1742), comets were believed to make only one pass through the solar system.
But in 1705, Halley used Isaac Newton's theories of gravitation and planetary motions to compute the orbits of several comets. Halley found the similarities in the orbits of bright comets reported in 1531, 1607, and 1682 and he suggested that the trio was actually a single comet making return trips. Halley correctly predicted the comet would return in 1758. History's first known "periodic" comet was later named in his honor.
The comet has since been connected to ancient observations going back more than 2,000 years. It is featured in the famous Bayeux tapestry, which chronicles the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
In 1986, an international fleet spacecraft met the comet for an unprecedented study from a variety of vantage points. The science fleet included Japan's Suisei and Sakigake spacecraft, the Soviet Union's Vega 1 and Vega 2 (repurposed after a successful Venus mission), the international ISEE-3 (ICE) spacecraft, and the European Space Agency's Giotto. NASA's Pioneer 7 and Pioneer 12 also contributed to the bounty of science data collected.
Below we are able to see the output of the Halley_simulation.py program while passing through our solar system
