Halley’s Comet, one of our solar system’s rarest sights. It was last visible with the naked eye on Earth in 1986 and it won’t be viewable without a telescope again for nearly another 40 years. However, at the moment, it’s about to mark another important milestone in its journey, as the Halley’s Comet has just reached its aphelion, or its furthest point from the sun.
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00:00 This is Halley's Comet, one of our solar system's rarest sights.
00:08 It was last visible with the naked eye in 1986, and it won't be viewable without a
00:12 telescope again for nearly another 40 years.
00:15 However, at the moment, it's about to mark another important milestone in its journey,
00:20 as Halley's Comet has just reached its aphelion, or its furthest point from the sun.
00:24 The aphelion is the unofficial halfway-ish point in the comet's narrow parabolic orbit
00:28 through our star system.
00:30 It's now set to arc and come back towards the sun.
00:32 But at the moment, the comet is some 3.3 billion miles away, or around 35 times the distance
00:38 Earth is from our central star, meaning it's currently further than planet Neptune.
00:42 This change in direction also means the comet is traveling at its slowest speed during its
00:46 journey as well, moving at just 0.91 kilometers a second, or around 2,000 miles per hour.
00:52 Its great distance also means that our telescopes can't see it out there either.
00:56 In fact, the last time astronomers were able to zero in on it was way back in 2003.
01:01 So when can we expect the next flyby?
01:03 Well, don't hold your breath.
01:04 The next time Halley's Comet will be visible without a high-tech telescope will be summer
01:08 2061.
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