Sky Matters: On one evening of February, the Moon will be nicely positioned between Venus and Jupiter

It’s a great opportunity for any budding astrophotographer to capture the hottest planet, and the largest, alongside our nearest celestial neighbour.

This image made available by NASA shows the planet Venus made with data from the Magellan spacecraft and Pioneer Venus Orbiter. On Wednesday, June 2, 2021, NASA’s new administrator, Bill Nelson, announced two new robotic missions to the solar system's hottest planet, during his first major address to employees. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

Comets are enigmatic objects. They are loose aggregates of dust and water-ice infused with a complex mix of trapped gases which get released when warmed by the Sun to produce massive tails that can stretch for millions of kilometres – though you could pass right through them without even noticing. Throughout history and across cultures they have evoked responses of fear or terror, their appearance usually being interpreted as ominous portents. 

The English astronomer Edmund Halley is commonly credited with being the first person to definitively predict the return of a comet, one that now famously carries his name. He used the relatively new “Laws of Gravitational Motion” from Isaac Newton to show that appearances of comet Halley had been visually recorded every 75-76 years by different civilizations without anyone previously realising it was the same comet. By doing so, he showed that comets have orbits that are (largely) predictable, just like planets.