Halley's Comet named in 1759
A Frenchman, Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (15 March 1713 – 21 March 1762) during the year of miracles of English victories over the French, named this comet in 1759 after an Englishman, Edmond Halley (1656-1742).
Halley had figured out 3 previous sightings of this comet was the same comet each time.
From 1755 to 1758 this comet was often referred to as the Comet of 1682.
Many sightings of it were made, but it was not until April of 1759 England started seeing this comet after it rounded the sun returning to its orgin. It was observed on the continent of Europe as early as 25 Dec 1758 before it rounded the sun.
Sometime after April 1759 this comet of 1682 got named Halley's Comet.
When Halley worked on cometary orbits in 1685, it was with the Principia at his side. He noted the comets of 1531, 1607, and 1682 had similar orbits. He boldly postulated that they were one and the same, and predicted this comet would reappear at the end of December 1758 — which it did. Unfortunately, Halley did not live to see its return, as he passed away in 1742. But his legacy was cemented at a meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1759, when astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille first referred to the body as the name we know it by today: Halley’s Comet.
But no contemporary source is cited for this.
We are still looking for the first date of that name appearing in publication.
We do find references in publications to this comet in the years 1755-1759 that don't call it Halley's Comet.
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Compiled by Jim Moyer 9/4/2023, updated 9/7/2023
Table of Contents
Reference to the Comet without Halley's name attached
Benjamin Martin made speeches and wrote for the papers about the return of this comet of 1682 during 1755 to 1759.
Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac discussed it in 1757. Ben Franklin leaves for England on 6 June 1757 to August 1762 (See dates and travels of Ben Franklin in England here.)
Here's another publication in April 1759 regarding the unnamed comet:
Two lectures on comets, read in the chapel of Harvard-College, in Cambridge, New England, in April 1759. On occasion of the comet which appear'd in that month. With an appendix, concerning the revolutions of that comet, and of some others. By John Winthrop, Esq. Hollisian Professor of the Mathematics and Philosophy at Cambridge. Published by the general desire of the hearers
Ezra Stiles on 5 Feb 1762 mentions these lectures to Ben Franklin as yet another reason to nominate the lecturer and Harvard mathematician John Winthrop to the Royal Society.
In Boston April 1759 this headline appears:
Benjamin Martin made speeches and wrote for the papers about the return of this comet of 1682 during 1755 to 1759.
Source:
About discussions in English newspapers 1755-1759 about the predicted return of the Comet of 1682:
Dates of comet im 1758 and 1759
Outer ring to inner ring: The Comet passes through the orbits of Pluto then Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter.
Halley's prediction of the comet's return proved to be correct, although it was not seen until 25 December 1758, by Johann Georg Palitzsch, a German farmer and amateur astronomer. It did not pass through its perihelion until 13 March 1759, the attraction of Jupiter and Saturn having caused a retardation of 618 days.
The perihelion (q) and aphelion (Q) are the nearest and farthest points respectively of a body's direct orbit around the Sun.
This effect was computed before its return (with a one-month error to 13 April) by a team of three French mathematicians, Alexis Clairaut, Joseph Lalande, and Nicole-Reine Lepaute.The confirmation of the comet's return was the first time anything other than planets had been shown to orbit the Sun. It was also one of the earliest successful tests of Newtonian physics, and a clear demonstration of its explanatory power. The comet was first named in Halley's honour by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1759.
Source:
Title A View of the Solar System and Orbit of the Comet, (with its proper Elevation,) which will next return; truely representing all its Appearances for any Part of the Year.
Author MARTIN, Benjamin
Publisher Published according to Act of Parliament
Publication place London
Publication date Feb. 24th 1757
Engraved broadside, three dimensional flap illustrating the perihelion, complete comet cut-outs, text on either sides.
The instrument shows the probable transit of Halley's comet in 1758. The plane of the comet, with the various comet tails, can be tilted at an angle above the ecliptic plane in order to simulate the inclination of the cometary orbit. At the end of the accompanying text, Martin warns: "At its descending Node, it will be very near the Earths Orbit; and should that happen the 12th of May we should be in a dangerous Situation, as the denser Part of its blazing Tail would then envelope the Earth, which God forbid." Edmond Halley, in his 1705 'Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets', used Newton's Laws to calculate the effects of the gravitational pull of Jupiter and Saturn of cometary bodies. He calculated that the comet of 1682 was the same as those observed by Petrus Apianus in 1531 and Johannes Kepler in 1607, returning every 76 years. Halley correctly predicted its return for 1758, although it was not spotted until 25 December 1758, and did not pass through its perihelion until 13 March 1759 on account of the aforementioned gravitational pull.
Source
panel from the Bayeux tapestry showing people looking at what would later be known as Halley's comet. Credit: By Myrabella - Own work, Public Domain
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How important Halley was to Newton's legacy and his own
In 1684 Halley made his first visit to Isaac Newton in Cambridge, an event that led to his prominent role in the development of the theory of gravitation. Halley was the youngest of a trio of Royal Society members in London that included Robert Hooke, the inventor and microscopist, and Sir Christopher Wren, the famous architect, both of whom, with Newton at Cambridge, were attempting to find a mechanical explanation for planetary motion. Their problem was to determine what forces would keep a planet in forward motion around the Sun without either flying off into space or falling into the Sun. Since these men were dependent upon their scientific stature for both livelihood and sense of achievement, each had a personal interest in being the first to find a solution. This desire for priority, a propelling motive in science, was the cause of much lively discussion and competition between them.
Although Hooke and Halley had reasoned that the force keeping a planet in orbit must decrease as the inverse of the square of its distance from the Sun, they were not able to deduce from this hypothesis a theoretical orbit that would match the observed planetary motions, despite the incentive of a prize offered by Wren. Halley then visited Newton, who told him he had already solved the problem—the orbit would be an ellipse—but that he had mislaid his calculations to prove it. Encouraged by Halley, Newton then expanded his studies on celestial mechanics into one of the greatest masterpieces produced by the mind of man, the Principia. The Royal Society decided that “Mr. Halley undertake the business of looking after it, and printing it at his own charge,” which he proceeded to do. He consulted with Newton, tactfully subdued a priority dispute between Newton and Hooke, edited the text of the Principia, wrote laudatory verse in Latin for the preface to honour its author, corrected the proofs, and saw it through the press in 1687.
Source
Research Notes
Paris Academy of Sciences in 1759, when astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille first referred to the body as the name we know it by today: Halley’s Comet.
The Academy has always carefully preserved its documents and files. However, it was not until the 1880s that its collections, including those from the earliest periods, were reconstituted. The academic Archives Service preserves: - the Minutes of meetings, the oldest of which date back to 1666 and which form a long continuous sequence right up to our times;
The first Academy of Sciences (1666-1699) The Academy of Sciences of Paris has its origins at a time when Superintendent, Comptroller General, Jean-Baptiste COLBERT, planned to create an academy of general calling. This was in keeping with the heritage of various groups of scholars who, during the 17th Century, met around a patron or a learned personality. Colbert chose a small group of scholars who met on December 22, 1666 in the King Louis XIV's library, recently installed in rue Vivienne, Paris and where they then held twice-weekly meetings. The first 30 years of the Academy's existence were relatively informal, since no statutes had been established for the institution.
The Royal Academy of Sciences (1699-1793) On 20 January 1699, Louis XIV gave the Company its first rules. The Academy received the title of Royal Academy of Sciences and was installed in the Louvre in Paris. Comprising 70 members, in the 18th Century it contributed to the scientific movement of its time through its publications and played a role as counsellor to those in power. On 8 August 1793, the Convention abolished all the academies.
History of the Royal Academy of Sciences. Year 1723. Paris, Durand, 1753. - Years 1754-1757. Paris, Imprimerie royale, 1759-1762. 5 volumes in-4, marbled calf, coat of arms in the centre, spine decorated, red edges (Binding of the time). Famous annual periodical gathering all the memoirs and scientific communications of the members of the Académie des sciences.
The philosophical history and memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris: or, An abridgment of all the papers relating to natural philosophy, which have been publish'd by the members of that illustrious society for the year 1699 to 1720. With many curious observations relating to the natural history and anatomy of animals, &c. Illustrated with copper-plates. The whole translated and abridged by Académie des sciences (France); Chambers, Ephraim, ca. 1680-1740; Martyn, John, 1699-1768
Publication date 1742
During his time at the academy, Lacaille got increasingly interested in exploring the southern skies, which were insufficiently known at that time, with the only more serious survey undertaken by Edmond Halley in 1676-1678. On October 21, 1750, at 7:00 in the evening, Lacaille left Paris, and embarked on the ship Le Glorieux, under a Captain M. Daprès, at Lorient, to enter an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. They left in the morning of November 21. Lacaille reports that in the evening of that day he was seasick, and remained so for three weeks. In the first days of December they passed Madeira, heading for Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) which was reached on January 26, 1751. They had a stay of almost a month, which Lacaille used for numerous physical, geographic and astronomical measurements. On February 25, 1751, the crew set sail and left heading to South Africa, getting sight of the coast on March 30, 1751 and eventually going ashore on April 20, 1751 at the Cape of Good Hope. Lacaille established an observatory and on August 6, 1751, started to scan the southern skies for one year.
During the time until the beginning of August 1752, he determined the positions of 9,800 stars between the celestial south pole and the tropic of Capricorn;
The anatomy of a scientific institution: the Paris Academy of Sciences, 1666-1803 by Hahn, Roger, 1932- Publication date 1971
maps of stars by lacaille
The Paris Academy
Académie royale des sciences de Paris, 1666-1793
Institut National des Sciences et des Arts, 1795-1816
Académie des Sciences (Institut de France), 1816-present
The Paris Academy (Académie royale des sciences de Paris) had its origins in the numerous scientific and philosophical circles that pervaded Parisian society in the 17th century. Before long, these intellectual circles were actively pursuing scientific experiments and sharing results with other interested parties. By the 1660s, the volume of scientific work had increased to
by Library Company of Philadelphia; Adams, John, 1735-1826, former owner. MB (BRL); John Adams Library (Boston Public Library) MB (BRL) Publication date 1789
DESCRIPTIONThese silver-framed eyeglasses with round lenses are know as Martin's Margins. They were invented by Benjamin Martin (1704–1782), an instrument maker from London, England. The dark rims were supposed to protect wearers from excessive light and improve their vision. This pair probably dates from the second half of the eighteenth century. Most Martin's Margins frames are made from steel or silver and have either horn or tortoiseshell rims.
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