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Fred Lawrence Whipple
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Fred Lawrence Whipple was an American astronomer, who worked at the Harvard College Observatory for more than 70 years. Among his achievements were asteroid and comet discoveries, the "dirty snowball"
Whipple in 1982
Whipple in 1982
Halley's Comet at Giotto's closest approach, 1986
Halley's Comet at Giotto's closest approach, 1986
Under a banner for Operation Moonwatch, people are lined up at the entrance to a Satellite Demonstration set up in Biloxi, Mississippi, 1958.
Under a banner for Operation Moonwatch, people are lined up at the entrance to a Satellite Demonstration set up in Biloxi, Mississippi, 1958.
Fred Whipple, left, and Leonard Carmichael, seventh Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, when Whipple won the President's Award presented by John
Fred Whipple, left, and Leonard Carmichael, seventh Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, when Whipple won the President's Award presented by John F. Kennedy, 1962
Halley's Comet
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Halley's Comet is the only known short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing roughly every 74–79 years. It last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar Syst
Fred Lawrence Whipple
…composition (later called the "dirty snowball" hypothesis). Criticized at first, the hypothesis was mostly confirmed when ESA's Giotto photographed the Halley's Comet in 1986. Before Whipple, it was believed that comets "were balls of sand held together by gravity". Whipple was best-known for his work on comets, and…
Halley's Comet photographed by William Liller from Easter Island on 8 March 1986
Halley's Comet photographed by William Liller from Easter Island on 8 March 1986
"I must entreat you to procure for me of Mr Flamsteed what he has observed of the Comett of 1682 particularly in the month of September, for I am more
"I must entreat you to procure for me of Mr Flamsteed what he has observed of the Comett of 1682 particularly in the month of September, for I am more and more confirmed that we have seen that Comett now three times, since yͤ Yeare 1531, he will not deny it you, though I know he will me." —Excerpt of Halley's letter to Newton about comet's orbits (September 28, 1695)
Jamaican polymath Francis Williams (portrait attributed to William Williams, c. 1760). The only contemporary illustration of an astronomer detecting t
Jamaican polymath Francis Williams (portrait attributed to William Williams, c. 1760). The only contemporary illustration of an astronomer detecting the comet's return.
Orionid meteor originating from Halley's Comet streaking the sky below the Milky Way and to the right of Venus
Orionid meteor originating from Halley's Comet streaking the sky below the Milky Way and to the right of Venus