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Comet Day (2061)
"Miss Murphy in first grade
wrote its name in chalk
across the board and told us
it was roaring down the stormtracks
of the Milky Way at frightful speed
and if it wandered off its course
and smashed into the earth
there’d be no school tomorrow."
~ Halley's Comet, Stanley Kunitz (1905-2006)
It’s never too early—or too late—to kilt up and look skyward. Whether you’re a seasoned stargazer or a curious newcomer, the heavens are always ready to dazzle. And while this editor may not make it to Halley’s Comet’s next scheduled return in summer 2061, there’s no shortage of stellar spectacles to enjoy in the meantime. Halley’s Comet, one of the most famous periodic comets, last appeared in 1986 and is responsible for two annual meteor showers—the Eta Aquariids in May and the Orionids in October. So in a way, it’s still with us, streaking across the night sky in the form of glowing trails.
The tartan featured here reflects the shimmering beauty of comets in motion: deep midnight blues and glacial greens evoke the ion and dust tails streaming across a dark sky, sculpted by solar winds and sunlight. It’s a visual echo of nature’s finest pyrotechnics—silent, mysterious, and breathtaking.
A recent standout was Comet NEOWISE, discovered in March 2020 during NASA’s NEOWISE mission. By July of that year, it was visible without a telescope, painting luminous arcs across the northern hemisphere and drawing comparisons to the legendary Hale–Bopp. Photographer Anthony Murphy captured its glow above the ancient site of Newgrange in Ireland—a once-in-a-lifetime image for a once-in-6,800-year event. 🖤 💙 🤍 💚 ☄️ ☄️ ☄️
Here's a list of the most spectacular historic comets and their next return dates!
🔁 Halley's Comet – Last seen 1986, returns 2061
💥 Hale–Bopp – Blazed across skies in 1997, returns ~4385 AD
✨ NEOWISE – 2020 pandemic comet, returns ~8786 AD
🌠 Hyakutake – Stunning close pass in 1996, returns in ~18,000 years
🔄 Encke’s Comet – Shortest orbit (~3.3 years), next in 2027
🌌 Swift–Tuttle – Source of the Perseids, returns 2126
A great comet is a comet that becomes exceptionally bright. There is no official definition; often the term is attached to comets such as Halley's Comet, which are bright enough to be noticed by casual observers who are not looking for them, and become well known outside the astronomical community. Great comets are rare; on average, only one will appear in a decade. Comets are officially named after their discoverers.
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 74–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and the only naked-eye comet that might appear twice in a human lifetime. Halley last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061.
During its 1986 apparition, Halley's Comet became the first comet to be observed in detail by spacecraft, providing the first observational data on the structure of a comet nucleus and the mechanism of coma and tail formation.
These observations supported a number of longstanding hypotheses about comet construction, particularly the "dirty snowball" model, which correctly predicted that Halley would be composed of a mixture of volatile ices – such as water, carbon dioxide, and ammonia – and dust. The missions also provided data that substantially reformed and reconfigured these ideas; for instance, it is now understood that the surface of Halley is largely composed of dusty, non-volatile materials, and that only a small portion of it is icy.
The vast majority of comets are never bright enough to be seen by the naked eye, and generally pass through the inner Solar System unseen by anyone except astronomers. However, occasionally a comet may brighten to naked eye visibility, and even more rarely it may become as bright as or brighter than the brightest stars. The requirements for this to occur are: a large and active nucleus, a close approach to the Sun, and a close approach to the Earth.
The first confirmed sighting of Halley's comet was in 240 BC. The next predicted perihelion of Halley's Comet is the 28th of July, 2061.
Designed by Carol A.L. Martin, this tartan illustrations the blue and green glow of the ionized gases of a comet in the dark sky.
For more great comets in history, click one of the most recent Great Comets, Comet Hale-Bopp, 1997.