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[[Image:Comet1066.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Halley's Comet as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070 AD. (The observers are point to a star with a tail in the frieze at the top). A caption says "Isti mirant stella," ("they stare, amazed at the star")]]

[[Image:Comet1066.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Halley's Comet as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070 AD. (The observers are point to a star with a tail in the frieze at the top). A caption says "Isti mirant stella," ("they stare, amazed at the star")]]

It is named for astronomer Edmond Halley (1656-1742). Halley was certainly not the "discoverer," in the sense of being the first person to see it. In fact it was recorded on Babylonian tablet in 164 BC, and its appearance in 1066 was depicted on the [[Bayeux Tapestry]].  Halley, however, was the first person to tie together accounts of older comet appearances and realize that these were periodic appearances of ''the same'' comet. This was an important step in astronomers' understanding of comets and the Solar System. (Halley, incidentally, was also a believer in the "hollow earth" theory: that the Earth is a spherical shell and humans live inside, on the inner surface.)

It is named for astronomer [[Edmund Halley]] (1656-1742). Halley was certainly not the "discoverer," in the sense of being the first person to see it. In fact it was recorded on Babylonian tablet in 164 BC, and its appearance in 1066 was depicted on the [[Bayeux Tapestry]].  Halley, however, was the first person to tie together accounts of older comet appearances and realize that these were periodic appearances of ''the same'' comet. This was an important step in astronomers' understanding of comets and the Solar System. (Halley, incidentally, was also a believer in the "hollow earth" theory: that the Earth is a spherical shell and humans live inside, on the inner surface.)

[[Image:Yerkeshalley2.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Illustration of how Halley's Comet might have looked to a naked-eye observer standing on the grounds of Yerkes Observatory in 1910. Moon at left, Halley's at right. Although appearance suggests motion, comets do not swoop through the sky; position changes slowly over many hours.]]

[[Image:Yerkeshalley2.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Illustration of how Halley's Comet might have looked to a naked-eye observer standing on the grounds of Yerkes Observatory in 1910. Moon at left, Halley's at right. Although appearance suggests motion, comets do not swoop through the sky; position changes slowly over many hours.]]