Edmond Halley — Questions and answers

Read the full story

What did Edmond Halley predict about the comets observed in 1531, 1607, and 1682?

Choices

  1. They were all different comets passing by.
  2. They were all the same comet that would return in 1758. ✓
  3. They were omens of bad luck.
  4. They were too hard to track.

Answer: They were all the same comet that would return in 1758.

From page 1

What did young Edmond Halley do on the island of St. Helena?

Choices

  1. He studied animals and plants.
  2. He built a new type of ship.
  3. He set up an observatory to map stars in the Southern Hemisphere. ✓
  4. He wrote a book about famous sailors.

Answer: He set up an observatory to map stars in the Southern Hemisphere.

From page 2

Why did Halley visit Isaac Newton in Cambridge?

Choices

  1. To ask him to build a new telescope.
  2. To get help solving a difficult math problem about gravity and orbits. ✓
  3. To invite him to a scientific party.
  4. To show him a new map of the stars.

Answer: To get help solving a difficult math problem about gravity and orbits.

From page 3

What important book did Halley help Isaac Newton publish?

Choices

  1. A book about comets.
  2. Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. ✓
  3. A book about stars in the Southern Hemisphere.
  4. The Law of Universal Gravity.

Answer: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.

From page 4

How were comets usually seen before Edmond Halley's work?

Choices

  1. As beautiful, predictable objects.
  2. As signs of good luck and happiness.
  3. As unpredictable signs of doom or important events. ✓
  4. As small, faraway stars.

Answer: As unpredictable signs of doom or important events.

From page 5

What was Halley's "aha!" moment about the comets seen in 1531, 1607, and 1682?

Choices

  1. He realized they were all different comets.
  2. He understood they were actually planets.
  3. He discovered they were the same comet returning. ✓
  4. He decided they were just optical illusions.

Answer: He discovered they were the same comet returning.

From page 6

In what years did Halley predict the comet of 1682 would return?

Choices

  1. 1705 or 1706.
  2. 1758 or 1759. ✓
  3. 1682 or 1683.
  4. 1800 or 1801.

Answer: 1758 or 1759.

From page 7

Who was the first person to sight the returning comet on Christmas Day, 1758?

Choices

  1. Isaac Newton.
  2. Edmond Halley.
  3. Johann Georg Palitzsch. ✓
  4. Christopher Wren.

Answer: Johann Georg Palitzsch.

From page 8

Besides studying comets, what other amazing things did Edmond Halley do?

Choices

  1. He wrote plays and poems.
  2. He invented new musical instruments.
  3. He made maps for sailors and experimented with a diving bell. ✓
  4. He discovered new types of plants.

Answer: He made maps for sailors and experimented with a diving bell.

From page 9

How did Halley's work change how people thought about comets?

Choices

  1. People started to think comets were dangerous.
  2. Comets became supernatural wonders again.
  3. Comets changed from unpredictable omens to predictable celestial objects. ✓
  4. His work made people stop looking at the sky.

Answer: Comets changed from unpredictable omens to predictable celestial objects.

From page 10