Edmond Halley

Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

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The greatest of English astronomers. At the age of twenty-two he published his catalogue of the stars of the southern hemisphere and in 1705, his celebrated work on comets. Halley published Newton's Principia at his own expense in 1687. By collecting observations of earlier comets, he was able to predict the appearance of the great comet of 1758 ('Halley's Comet'). He was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1721.
Halley is depicted in this portrait by Whood with a volume marked 'Newton' and a chart showing the path across southern England which he predicted for the total solar eclipse of 22 April 1715.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

Title

Edmond Halley

Date

c.1720

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 93.3 x W 78.7 cm

Accession number

6377

Acquisition method

Purchased, 1996

Work type

Painting

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