Warehouse 13 Artifact Database Wiki
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Piece of Halley's Comet
“I am more and more confirmed that we have seen that Comett now three times, since ye Yeare 1531” - Halley, 1695

Origin

Halley’s Comet

Type

Icy Core

Effects

Increases coincidental happenings

Downsides

Effects can be fatal or long-reaching across populations

Activation

Enthalpic reaction

Collected by

Warehouse 13

Section

Martel-394S

Aisle

609767-3078

Shelf

164270-6556-914

Date of Collection

December 3, 2002

[Source]


Origin[]

Halley's Comet, Comet Halle, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that can appear twice in a human lifetime. It last appeared in the inner parts of the Solar System in 1986 and will next appear in mid-2061.

Halley's periodic returns to the inner Solar System have been observed and recorded by astronomers around the world since at least 240 BC. But it was not until 1705 that the English astronomer Edmond Halley understood that these appearances were re-appearances of the same comet. At various points in history, its appearance has potentially coincided or foretold ominous events. Notable points include:

  • the death of Roman architect-general Marcus Agrippa
  • possibly being the Star of Bethlehem at Christ’s birth
  • mentioned in the 240 BC Chinese chronicle Records of the Grand Historian, the 1st century AD Tamil work Purananuru, the 1493 biblical encyclopedia the Nuremberg Chronicles and the Sikh holy text Guru Granth Sahib
  • the defeat of Attila the Hun at the Battle of Chalons
  • the Battle of Hastings where William the Conqueror claimed the English throne, also depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry
  • the Ottoman invasion of Hungary in 1456 culminating in the siege of Belgrade
  • witnessed by 15th century Ethiopian Emperor Zara Yaqob before establishing the capital
  • observations of the comet path by Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler
  • Exacerbate Xinhai Revolution that would end the Qing dynasty in 1911
  • The birth and death of Mark Twain on its appearances in 1835 and 1910

During its 1986 visit to the inner Solar System, Halley's Comet became the first comet observed in detail by spacecraft, providing the first observational data on the structure of a comet nucleus and the mechanism of coma and tail formation. These observations supported a number of longstanding hypotheses about comet construction, particularly Fred Whipple's "dirty snowball" model, which correctly predicted that Halley would be composed of a mixture of volatile ices—such as water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and dust. The missions also provided data that substantially reformed and reconfigured these ideas; for instance, it is now understood that the surface of Halley is largely composed of dusty, non-volatile materials, and that only a small portion of it is icy.

This portion was caught in a flyby expedition in the 1980s under the Soviet Vega program to observe Venus and the passing comet. It’s thought some of the ice separated from the main core and clung to the outside craft without sublimating into vapor. A smaller sample was taken inside and studied under scientific laboratories until its effects triggered.

Effects[]

Causes events of greater randomness to coincide together, or within closer proximity to another. Unrelated events such as accidents will occur to make discoveries, notable figures and other unexpected changes to happen together. Appears to target individuals with a famed reputation more negatively than the average person. Does not appear to directly harm, save or predict anything, merely bring together disparate elements into something bigger.

Appearances[]

Mentioned in the tie-in novel Warehouse 13: A Touch of Fever. Seen by Claudia when she ran from the Nisqually Totem Pole.

Astronomy Artifacts
Astronomers Clyde W. Tombaugh's Photographic PlatesEdmond Halley's TelescopeErnst Chladni's PlateFritz Zwicky’s Meteor PelletsGalileo Galilei's AstrolabeHeinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers’ TelescopeJohannes Hevelius' QuadrantJohannes Kepler's Telescope LenseJohn Flamsteed's Star CatalogueKazimierz Kordylewski’s TelescopeLuis Alvarez's Iridium ChunkNicolaus Copernicus' Armillary SphereTycho Brahe's Prosthetic NosesVera Rubin's ProtractorWilliam Wales' Portable Observatory
Exploration Missions American Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Hoax SetApollo 13 Command ModuleApollo 15 Geologic Hammer and Falcon FeatherChris Hadfield's Acoustic GuitarColumbia Space ShuttleNavigational Software from the Mars Climate OrbiterPete Conrad's Space BootsRichard F. Gordon Jr's Spacesuit HelmetSaturn VThe Fourth AstronautWally Schirra’s Insignia PatchesWilliam Safire’s Apollo 11 Speech
Soviet / Russian Alexey Leonov's "Near the Moon"Laika's HarnessSputnik's AntennaUSSR Space CapsuleValentin Bondarenko's Cotton BallsValeri Polyakov's Blood Pressure CuffVladislav Volkov’s SpacesuitYuri Gagarin's Hockey PuckYuri Gagarin's SpacesuitYuri Gagarin's Lieutenant Pin
Other Edward Makuka Nkoloso’s Oil DrumMatroshka Experiments Mannequin
Natural Phenomenon Samples Chunk of the Chelyabinsk MeteorExplosive Meteor FragmentNWA 7034Piece of Halley's CometStar Jelly
Solar Prominence Donald Liebenberg's Eclipse GlassesÉvry Schatzman's TelescopeJohannes Fabricius' Camera ObscuraObelisk from St. Peter's BasilicaRa's ScepterRa's Solar Barge
Lunar Activity Chang'e's BuyaoJean Chastel's Silver GunLi Bai’s Rosewood Wall PanelsPrincess Kaguya’s Bamboo SwordSelene's TiaraTobias Mayer's Reflecting CircleWang Zhenyi's Lunar Eclipse
Exotic Physics Fred Hoyle’s Rubik's CubeGeorge Biddell Airy's Transit InstrumentHermann Weyl's Drafting CompassHolmdel Horn AntennaJames Chadwick's Nobel PrizeJocelyn Bell Burnell's Chart RecorderJohannes Kepler's Planetary ModelJohn Archibald Wheeler’s Newton CradleKarl Schwarzchild's Pocket WatchLouis Essen's Alarm Clock
Extraterrestrial Life Purported Sightings Heaven's Gate HomepageJ. Allen Hynek's TelescopeWilliam Brazel's Cowboy Hat
Fictional Encounters Bolaji Badejo's BeretCybermen OutfitsDalek CostumesFox Mulder's 'I Want To Believe' PosterGarrett P. Serviss' Prop Martian GunGeorge Lucas' Original Prop LightsaberH. R. Giger's Mechanical PencilHAL 9000 PropOmnitrix ToyOrson Welles' MicrophoneRichard O'Brien's StockingsU.S. Air Force Space Probe No. 1Zathura
Miscellaneous Bill Kaysing's FeatherCarl Sagan's JacketCharles Fort’s Newspaper ClippingsConrad Haas’ NozzleHuitzilopochtli's Sacrificial BowlJack Parson's Rocket EngineLance Bass' Cargo ContainerMaria Margaretha Kirch's EphemerisPiece of the Antikythera MechanismQian Xuesen's Servomechanism


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