Comet Halley: a Unique Scientific Lab

Abstract

The current reappearance of Halley's Comet has led to a plethora of commercial activity, frequently referred to as Halley hype. Available now on the market because of it are new telescopes, T-shirts, pins, newsletters, hotlines, bumper stickers, silver spoons, and a host of other souvenirs. Naturally, too, a wealth of books have been published recently about Edmund Halley and his comet. Virtually all this commercial activity is aimed at a very popular level—for the person in the street who knows of no comet other than Halley's. Astronomers tend to have mixed feelings about such commercialism. Some are offended and find it tawdry and distracting from the real scientific significance of comets; others are of the opinion that the commercial activities generate public interest, which ultimately gets transformed into support for scientific studies. But why does this particular comet attract so much attention? Of the 15 to 25 comets that are discovered or reappear annually, ...