While Comet Halley is recognized as the origin of the Orionids meteor shower, it is not yet certain whether the comet is also the origin of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, or whether the cometвЂ™s close passage merely perturbs the debris that we see as the Eta Aquariids shower in May. Since Halley passes close by Earth twice in a single orbit, we pass through two debris trails, the first of which is the debris that we see as the Orionids in late October each year. Halley associated with two meteor showers One prior sighting, that of 164 BC, is recorded on two Babylonian clay tablets, although it is yet to be confirmed whether this record is of Halley or not. This recording describes the apparition as having вЂњappeared in the east, and moved northвЂќ. In 1910, the cometвЂ™s pass was particularly impressive as it flew within 13.9 million miles (22.4 million kms) of the Earth, or around 1/15 of the distance separating the Earth and SunД¬hinese observers recorded the appearance of a comet in the вЂRecords of the Grand HistorianвЂ™, which recording is now believed to be the first authenticated sighting of Comet Halley.

However, while Tycho Brahe used parallax measurements to demonstrate that comets were located beyond the Moon, it was Edmond Halley who showed in his treatise called вЂSynopsis of the Astronomy of CometsвЂ™ that the comets that appeared and were recorded in 1531, 1607, 16 were in fact the same comet, but seen at different points in its orbit. Up until the Renaissance, it was commonly believed that comets were mere disturbances in EarthвЂ™s atmosphere.

Haleys comet