* Astronomy

From these figures we can piece together a picture of the comet's passage. On June 4th [466 BC] a close conjunction of Venus, Jupiter, and the moon occurred in the sunset. Comet Halley could have become visible soon after, on June 5th or 6th early in the morning very near the Pleiades. It would have grown in brightness each day, with the tail becoming more elongated. On June 4th the comet had passed from below the Earth's orbital plane to above it. Then a few days later on June 8th the comet would have passed inside the Earth's orbit. This could very easily have left material in for the Earth to pass through later in September. Later on June 28st the comet would have passed inside the orbit of Venus. (At no point does the comet pass inside Mercury's orbit.) On August 6th the comet would have passed very close to Venus on its way back out of the Solar System. Then on August 27th the comet would have moved beyond the Earth's orbit.
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