Appropriately for someone who is best known for having discovered a comet, Halley used tiny comet-like marks to indicate wind direction, an idea that did not catch on.

ECONOMIST: Weather maps

In 1910, after weeks of being viewed through telescopes, Halley's Comet was reported visible to the naked eye in Curacao.

CNN: Friday,

Though meteors from Halley's Comet can be seen at this time of year, he said it did not come from the comet.

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Annihilation aside, Halley's comet will damage the world economy and the environment.

ECONOMIST: Stop that comet

There will also be a month-long exhibition at the Record Office, from 24 July, featuring Harriot's images of Jupiter's satellites, sunspots and Halley's comet.

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The heavens, he observed, remained agreeably unchanged: he saw Halley's comet when it passed over Pennsylvania in 1910 and again in 1986, when he was in New Zealand doing research.

ECONOMIST: William Sunderman

That would give it an orbital period of 341 years the longest yet measured and far longer than, for example, comet Halley, which goes around the sun in a sprightly 76 years.

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As for the specialness of the transit, well, it's rarer than passages of Mr. Halley's famous comet.

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