A Comet for Christmas : Oldest of Halleys to Pass Namesake On to Heirs

An 85-year-old California man plans to give his great-grandchildren a comet for Christmas.

In a quiet family ceremony, Halley’s comet will be passed like a family heirloom from its discoverer’s oldest living descendant to the youngest. The event is planned for sometime between November and January, when the comet next appears.

Edmund Paul Halley of Stockton was born in 1900. He is the “fifth or sixth generation great-grandnephew” of famed British astronomer Sir Edmund Halley. Halley lived from 1656 to 1742 and his name was given to the bright comet that returns once every 76 years.

“The tradition started with my grandfather, Edmund Paine Halley, of Booneville, Ky. He was visiting us in Kalamazoo, Mich., at the time he gave it to me,” Edmund Paul Halley said in a recent interview.

Received It in 1910

He said his grandfather had presented him the comet in the twilight of a summer evening in 1910.

On that long-ago June night, as the comet glowed in the dark like a luminous feather, the old man and the boy went outdoors to discuss their namesake.

“He made the remark that it was obvious that my father would not be around when the comet came back, so he might as well give it to me because there was a good chance I’d be here.

“It was a kind of facetious remark. But now that I have a chance to see it again, I figured, well, I’ve got great-grandchildren old enough to be aware of it; I’ll give them a resume and a lien on the comet--a nominal possession that they can cash in when they see it again.” The comet’s next appearance will be in 2061.

Children 7 and 9

Seven-year-old Ryan Halley and his sister, Shasta, 9, live in Petaluma, just north of San Francisco. Their father, 33-year-old Hugh Halley, is Edmund’s grandson. The family pronounces their name “holly.”

A commercial fisherman and boat salesman, Hugh has little interest in astronomy except when he guides sailboats by the stars.

“It’s basically a great-grandfather to great-grandson kind of thing,” Hugh explained. “I’ll be too old to see it again, so my grandfather will pass it to my children.

“He’s planning to pass it on when it’s in the sky, but I don’t know what he has in mind. He mentioned a couple of things, a kind of commemorative memento. When he was young, his grandfather sat with him and they looked at it together and he said, “This comet goes with your name.”

Will Draft Document

Edmund Paul Halley said he will have a lawyer friend draw up a lien on the comet, a document he can give to the children.

“And if they live to see it come back next time, they’ll be in a position to grant a lien to any children they have that might span the next 76 years.

“It’s a nice thing--a focus for the members of my family to remember family doings.”

Edmund Paul Halley will make the presentation whenever the view of the comet is best on an evening in November, December or January. Or they may wait until March, when it should be brighter and in the predawn sky.

“I just want to make sure they understand the significance of seeing it twice in a lifetime,” he said.

Few See It Twice

Because of the long span between visits, few people live to see Halley twice. Edmund Paine Halley, who passed it on in 1910, wasn’t among them.

“And when I saw I was getting along in years,” his grandson said, “I said I’ll have to stay around until 1985 or ’86 to check up on my comet.”

Hugh Halley said that when his grandfather brought up the idea of a ceremony several months ago, he and his wife, Linda, were enthused. They took Ryan and Shasta to a planetarium to acquaint them with the heavens, and studied the stars and planets through a telescope.

“My son is only 7, and he’s mostly interested in playing; but he is interested,” Hugh said. Linda said Shasta is interested too.

The children will become caretakers of the comet when the four generations gather under their namesake in a meadow somewhere far from city lights.

“They keep telling us we’re not going to see it as well this time, but we’ll go out and find it in a dark sky,” Edmund said.