|Sir Edmond Halley (1656 - 1742) was an English astronomer who is best known for his study of comets, and the discovery that certain comets observed many years apart appeared to travel along similar orbits. In particular, he noticed that the comets of 1531, 1607, and 1682 seemed similar and he hypothesized that they were in fact the same comet. He predicted that the comet would return in 1758; when it was observed as predicted, the comet was named Halley's Comet in his honor.|
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