Halley, Edmund, astronomer and mathematician, born near London; determined the rotation of the sun from the spots on its surface, and the position of 350 stars; discovered in 1680 the great comet called after his name, which appeared again in 1825; was entrusted with the publication of his “Principia” by Sir Isaac Newton; made researches on the orbits of comets, and was appointed in 1719 astronomer-royal (1656‒1742).
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Haller, Albert von * Halliwell-Phillipps, James Orchard