Halley's Comet
The 76-year visitor
The most famous periodic comet, Halley returns every 75–76 years. It last visited in 1986 and won't return until 2061. Its debris causes two annual meteor showers.
Image: NASA / W. Liller
Vital statistics
Type
Periodic Comet
Orbital period
75–76 years
Nucleus
11 × 8 × 8 km
Next perihelion
July 28, 2061
Did you know
Causes the Eta Aquariids (May) and Orionids (October) showers.
Fact 01
First identified as periodic by Edmond Halley in 1705.
Fact 02
Visited by 5 spacecraft in 1986.
Fact 03
Research & publications
Jump straight into peer-reviewed papers, preprints and authoritative references for Halley's Comet.
arXiv (preprints)
Open-access preprints in physics & astrophysics.
NASA ADS
The definitive bibliographic database for astronomy.
Google Scholar
Cross-publisher academic search.
Nature
Peer-reviewed articles in Nature & sister journals.
Wikipedia
Encyclopedic overview & onward references.
Tip: ask the Research AI for a curated reading list → /research
