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[–] 28 points 11 months ago

Interesting way to say it's a little more than halfway through its cycle.

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  • [–] 19 points 11 months ago

    I was thinking about Halley just few days ago, I was a kid last time, and was wondering if i will make it to next visit

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  • [–] 13 points 11 months ago* (1 child)

    Tell me about it. My day of birth is closer to WW2 than to the present. So depressing!

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  • [–] 12 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    When I was a lad, I had a special edition Halley’s Comet Matchbox Car. No idea why.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago (1 child)

    Right, but why a Matchbox car? I must have gotten it as a present, but who would buy such a thing and why was it made?

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  • Why it was made: "Commemorative." They apparently stamped that decal on three different models of otherwise ordinary mainline matchbox cars. They paint matchbox cars at all to make them special; "I got a red one." "I'll trade you my blue corvette and my yellow and purple flames chevelle for your Halley's comet firebird."

    Who would buy it: Collectors, because "commemorative." And apparently parents/loved ones of children, because it's a toy car. I take it you had fun playing with it as a kid? If so, I'd say it did its job. Those little comet decals seem to have helped form strong memories of it.

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    On 9 December 2023, Halley's Comet reached the farthest and slowest point in its orbit from the Sun when it was travelling at 0.91 km/s (2,000 mph) with respect to the Sun.

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  • [–] 10 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    My mind is fully blown that the SR-71 could outrun a comet

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  • [–] 6 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    That’s like saying I can outrun a TGV (while it’s departing the train station)

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  • [–] 8 points 11 months ago

    Eh, I get the sentiment. Nothing in space comes to a stop and most speeds are well beyond human comprehension. The Earth orbits at 67,000mph, escape velocity is like 27,000mph, the ground at the equator moves at about 1,000mph, the Voyagers are in the 30k range, and the Park Solar probe peaks over 400,000mph. So to learn that a comet is a tangible aviation speed was neat to me, at least

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  • [–] 10 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Hopefully all of MAGA does the same as the Heaven's Gate cult and castrate themselves and zip-tie plastic bags to their heads when they sleep as the comet flys overhead.

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    Correction: Halley's Comet's next visit will be its last.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    Oh the disappointment the last one was… just a blob, like a small cloud. In contrast, the Tsuchinshan in 2024 was so much better to see.

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