From the blue sky to the 4.6-billion-year odyssey of Halley’s Comet
Engineer Lucy Rogers MBE explores the science of the heavens. This talk connects Victorian light experiments and the incredible 3,000-mile migrations of monarch butterflies to the historical impact of celestial visitors on human empires.
The presentation features live demonstrations, including John Tyndall's 186 and 69 light-scattering experiment, which explains the sky's color, alongside a fire syringe meteor demo and a hydrogen balloon explosion. Rogers also shares field stories from stormchasing in the United States and tagging butterflies in Kansas.
The session delves into the history of 1P/Halley. While recorded sightings date back over 2,000 years—including 240 B.C.E. records in China's 'Shiji'—the comet is famously linked to the 1066 Norman invasion. Its appearance was seen as an omen of change during the Battle of Hastings. In 1705, Edmond Halley used Newtonian physics to prove that sightings in 1531, 1607, and 1682 were the same object, predicting its 1758 return.
Source: Why the sky is blue, how butterflies migrate & the true story of Halley's Comet | with Lucy Rogers
