#edmond halley

[nucifraga]

So, how old are the grandpas of the apocalypse really? Ft. - Jonah Magnus - Simon Fairchild - Peter Lukas - Maxwell Rayner

I MADE A PART 2 OF MY CHARACTER AGES RESEARCH (part 1 incl. og archives crew, 3 avatars + gerry here) after a few days of really wanting to detective the ages of this lot, i finally caved and decided to dig out the magnifying glass! same disclaimers apply! including an extra disclaimer to say that I've changed the formatting for this a lil because there was a Lot More Research done compared to part 1. Necessitated bc these mfs are OLD. (except for peter lukas. peter lukas is surprisingly young??)

(All ages are as of S1 / 2016 & the highlights are in bold if you don't feel like reading my essays)

Jonah Magnus

Age: ~216 Birth Year: ~1800

There are a few landmarks we can use, but because of how shady most are (old-ass letters) I also can’t pin down any solid dates because all the characters involved are fictional ._. Basically the only clues I got were: The Magnus Institute was established in 1818, but Jonah was old enough to travel alone to Germany and exchange letters with a friend (Albrecht von Closen) by 1816. So birthdate around ~1800? 1790?

I tried to find an ‘upper limit’ by using the life expectancy of the time since he also was able to live a ‘natural’ life until the (failed) Watcher’s Crown was carried out ‘at some point closely after February 13th, 1867’, BUT the average life expectancy of men was at most 41 years. So there was some Fairchild-esque shit going on there.

Simon Fairchild

Age: 439 - 488 Birth Year: 1528 - 1577

SPEAKING OF FAIRCHILD - sky grandpa! love him, he’s such a bastard. Anyway, in his own words, he’s had ‘an absurdly long life’. In MAG151 he says he was apprenticed to the Italian artist Tintoretto. Apprenticeships in the Renaissance started at approximately 11-14 years old & lasted for 1-8 years, and I’m assuming this was the same for the 1500s. Hopefully.

Given that Tintoretto became a renowned artist in ~1542, my estimate of the oldest Simon could be would be 14 in 1542. On the other end of the scale, Wikipedia says that his last notable work was Il Paradiso, finished from 1588–1594. I can’t find any mention of works post-1588 so this puts the absolute youngest Simon could be at 11 years old in 1588. From those two estimates, it was just a matter of mathing it out :)

Note 1: Simon mentions that his Becoming was while painting a church, likely a ceiling or high wall since he ‘should have broken his neck’, which should narrow it down – except it doesn’t, because Tintoretto painted a lot of churches x_x Note 2: I’ve just spent half an hour researching an Italian painter & art conventions in the 16th Century, which is of no relevance at all to my STEM degree in the 21st century. Simon’s age doesn’t even particularly matter because it was so long ago that the centuries quite literally blur together. This rabbit hole is incredibly fascinating, but this feels so ironically pointless, which is really, really fitting. Note 3: Simon definitely deserved to get ripped apart by the mob. His time has long, long passed lmao

Peter Lukas

Age: ~49-61 (at the very youngest; 36) Birth Year: late 1950s - late 1960s

Peter appears to be the youngest of these four – surprisingly so! – which makes it a lot simpler to pin down his age. He first meets JamesWright!Jonah between 1973 and 1996 & also he was old enough to have the option of watching TV when he was a child. TV became common in UK homes in the 1960s, so his birthdate at the earliest may be in the late 1950s/1960s.

However, he’s known Jonah as ‘Elias’ for most of their acquaintance by late 2018, meaning that they met at the earliest 1975 (21 years before 1996), but was probably more like 1980ish or later. I don’t think he would have met him too long after becoming an avatar some time after he became ‘old enough to run away’, which I’m assuming means he became aware of the Lonely when teenager-ish.

But spending some time on the Tundra before meeting other avatars makes sense for the Lonely, and so my vague estimate of his birth year would be late 1950s - late 1960s. I don’t think that his birthdate was anywhere later, though it is possible that it could have been as late as 1980 (if he began running away when very young & was introduced to ‘James Wright’ very early into avatar-hood), if incredibly unlikely.

Note: My ‘very youngest’ estimate for Peter Lukas is… younger than my estimate for Mike Crew’s age. I find this inordinately funny.

Maxwell Rayner

Age: 357 Birth Date: 8 November 1658

I have excellent news for Rayner! Good ol’ Jonny has made his original body Edmond Halley. A very famous person with a wikipedia page of his own that conveniently states his date of birth :)

Thanks, Jonny.

Rayner died in February 2017 at the age of 358 years 3 months 2 days, though he did spend a decent amount of time host-less. Unlike Gerard Keay, I’m unsure of how ‘alive’ he was during this time, so I’m just going to count it as ‘alive’-time because it means I get precise numbers for the first time since I started researching character ages!

[tolkienrulez54321]

ssf ocs shitpost

[zephyruswrites536]

Wow, Jonny. I didn’t know the great architect Robert Smirke was actually connected to fifteen fears that killed him eventually, nor did I know the great Astronomer and Mathematician Edmond Halley actually was a Dark avatar that took multiple bodies one being Maxwell Rayner….

(Joking, I was reading something for history and one “Edmond Halley” was mentioned and I realized very quickly that was Maxwell Rayner then I realized he was an actual person and not Maxwell Rayner…)

[quietparanoiac]

— So perhaps I could advance you the £50 you need to publish your Principia. — But Halley, thanks to fish brain here, the Royal Society is now penniless, how will it ever pay you back? — With unsold copies of The History of Fishes.

Horrible Histories (2009-2014), 5x05

[amayasnep]

A bit of history about Comet Halley

There is perhaps no other comet in history that has so captivated humanity as Comet Halley. A familiar visitor to the night skies for millennia, whose brilliance and seeming regularity within the lifespan of a human made it a prime target for us to project a piece of ourselves upon it.

For some, the comet was looked upon as an omen.

The apparition of Comet Halley in 1066 was seen as an omen among the English. Only a few months later, Harold II of England lost to William the Conqueror at Battle of Hastings, marking the beginning of the Norman Conquest of England.

The comet was recorded in the Bayeux Tapestry, an absolutely amazing 11th century embroidery detailing the Norman Conquest.

For others, the comet was a sign of divine favour.

The apparition of Comet Halley in 1456 was witnessed by Zara Yaqob (1399–1468), Emperor of Ethiopia. Yaqob believed the "miraculous light" to be a sign of God's favour after having ordered the execution by stoning of a group of heretics 38 days earlier. In response, he ordered a church be built on the site of the execution. Around it, a new capital city would be built: Debre Birhan (ደብረ ብርሃን; lit. "city of light").

Debre Birhan would remain the capital of the Empire of Ethiopia until the 1470s, when Yaqob's son Baeda Maryam I diminished its importance by keeping the royal court in constant movement throughout the realm for various reasons.

For Mark Twain, it was something else entirely.

Perhaps the most famous story involving Comet Halley was the self-prediction and subsequent passing of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) a day after perihelion during its 1910 apparition.

In 1909, Twain said the following:

I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: "Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together".

Twain lived a full life and he knew his time was near. He didn’t fear death any more than he feared his non-existence before he was born.

It’s clear Twain saw a part of himself in Comet Halley. As someone who’s been doing astronomy all my life, I sometimes see a part of myself in the stars.

Although his heart attack a day after the comet’s closest approach was a chance event, we can’t help but try to find some deeper meaning in all of this. Was Mark Twain’s birth and passing under Comet Halley count as a blessing or an omen? Did he know he was going to have a heart attack? Was it the will of God to take him then?

I think a better question would be to consider how quick we are to consider such things to be inherently “good” or “bad”, rather than letting the comet be a comet.

And then there’s Rabbi Yehoshua. 🍞

Rabbi Yehoshua (d. 131 CE), a leading tanna at Yavne following the destruction of the Second Temple, is credited with having made the first reference to Comet Halley's periodicity in literary history. The comet was witnessed by R. Yehoshua and R. Gamliel in 66 CE, the only apparition to have occurred during their lifetimes. The story can be found in Horayot 10a:19 of the Talmud.

The Gemara notes: This is similar to that incident where Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua were traveling together on a ship. Rabban Gamliel had sufficient bread for the journey. Rabbi Yehoshua also had sufficient bread, and additionally he had flour. The journey lasted longer than expected, and Rabban Gamliel’s bread was finished. He relied on Rabbi Yehoshua’s flour for nourishment. Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Yehoshua: Did you know from the outset that we would have so substantial a delay? Is that the reason that you brought flour with you? Rabbi Yehoshua said to Rabban Gamliel: There is one star that rises once in seventy years and misleads sailors at sea, causing their journeys to be extended. And I said: Perhaps that star will rise during our journey and mislead us.

As it turns out, R. Yehoshua was right. He not only predicted the comet’s inevitable reappearance, but actively prepared for it. It shows both his wealth of knowledge and his great leadership skills.

Science!

This is when the fun begins.

In his 1540 book Astronomicum Caesareum, German cosmographer Petrus Apianus described the appearance of a comet in 1531. He noted that the tail of the comet always pointed away from the direction of the Sun, and created a detailed diagram showcasing this relationship. This would prove invaluable to future astronomers.

English astronomer Edmond Halley (1656–1742) was the first to scientifically examine the comet and its apparitions. By studying existing data on the 1531, 1607, and 1682 comets, he came to the conclusion these were the same comet. He presented his findings in 1696 and collaborated with Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler to develop a model for the rules behind the motion of celestial bodies.

In a 1695 letter to Isaac Newton, Edmond Halley writes:

I must entreat you to procure for me of Mr Flamsteed what he has observed of the Comett of 1682 particularly in the month of September, for I am more and more confirmed that we have seen that Comett now three times, since yͤ Yeare 1531, he will not deny it you, though I know he will me.

Edmond Halley predicted the comet would return in 1759, a prediction which he never lived to see fulfilled but which was remarkably accurate (Johann Palitzsch first sighted the comet on 25 December 1758). He also made other scientific predictions, such as the Solar eclipse of May 3, 1715, and made countless contributions to the field of science and especially astronomy.

Side-note

In 1695, Edmond Halley was the first person to suggest that Noah’s Flood may have been the result of a comet impacting the Earth. He was promptly censored by the Royal Society for making such an absurd claim. Given the time period, this was probably on religious grounds.

Then, 303 years later, the American disaster movies Deep Impact and Armageddon were released within months of each other, the former of which depicts a cheesy “biblical” flood induced by a comet striking the Earth. Thanks Halley!

Closing thoughts

Comets are cool. I like comets :3

Update 26 Feb 2024: I’m making a part four!

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[bchargoistheartist94]

This is my digital illustration, I’ve created on @procreateapp, of the most famous shooting comet in space: Halley’s Comet, also known as 1P/Halley! Named after famed English astronomer Edmond Halley, who examined reports of a comet approaching Earth in 1531, 1607 and 1682. He concluded that these three comets were actually the same comet returning over and over again, and predicted that it would return in 1758. Halley's calculations showed that at least some comets orbit the sun.

Halley didn't live to see the comet's correctly-predicted return, but the comet was given his name in his honor.

The ancients have observed the well-known comet countless times, and some even suggest it was depicted on the 1066 Bayeux Tapestry. The oldest recording of the comet date as far back as 240 BC.

It traveled around the Sun in an elongated orbit and was last seen in February 1986, but we will see it again in 2061.

[sammypog]

these two are the cause of every parasocial thing i’ve ever done

[mihaylovblog]

367 години от рождението на английския астроном и физик Едмънд Халей (1656 – 1742) Изображение: www.britannica.com

[dcartcorner]

Even bothered old Halley into helping me design a special diving bell for the ritual.

(TMA 151, Big Picture)

[apod]

2023 September 1

The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules Image Credit & Copyright: Serge Brunier, Jean-François Bax, David Vernet OCA/C2PU

Explanation: In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, "This is but a little Patch, but it shows itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky is serene and the Moon absent." Of course, M13 is now less modestly recognized as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, one of the brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Sharp telescopic views like this one reveal the spectacular cluster's hundreds of thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the cluster core, upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3 light-years on a side. For comparison, the closest star to the Sun is over 4 light-years away. The remarkable range of brightness recorded in this image follows stars into the dense cluster core.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230901.html

[tolkienrulez54321]

SSF OCs!

Here are two of my SSF OCs, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit and Edmond Halley :D I’m working on Huygens right now but I can’t figure out a power for him.. any ideas would be helpful! (edit: thinking maybe some sort of toned down time control since he invented the pendulum clock?)

Halley’s Powers: Summoning “comets”(could maybe be a prophet and have his prophecies come true?), flight

Weaknesses: Slow, naive and overly optimistic (based on the IRL Halley!)

Fahrenheit’s Powers: Temperature manipulation (I know these images show him making flames but I’m most likely gonna scrap that because it doesn’t make much sense!)

Still working on them and their abilities/weaknesses and all so I’d love to hear your ideas :D

[quiltofstars]

The Great Hercules Cluster, M13 // Bob Scott

Discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, this cluster is visible to the unaided eye in the direction of the constellation of Hercules. This globular contains around 300,000 stars and was described by one astronomer, "Perhaps no one ever saw it for the first time through a telescope, without uttering a shout of wonder."

[squircatlies]

Here's a crossover nobody asked for, but has wormed its way into my head and won't leave: Good Omens × The Magnus Archives.

To clarify, not characters taken from one and put in the other's setting, both characters and settings put together in a weird soup.

I know the crossover doesn't make any sense, but the thought of the Them and the NotThem existing in the same universe greatly amuses me.

Further ramblings below the cut.

I've been debating between the Fears being an invention of Hell that has gone out of control and them being completely unrelated, outside beings with a power level closer to God, I feel like the first option diminishes their status a bit, but it is funnier. Maybe there could be a connection between them and the four riders of the apocalypse?

I want there to be a concrete divide between the divine/occult and eldritch, so that it's not just Hell's horror department and Angels and Demons are separate from monsters and avatars. But in universe not a lot of people know about the existence of either (aside from faith of course, which isn't the same as knowledge), so the ones that do encounter them have little to no basis for telling them apart. Also the Fears have a more active presence on Earth, so Angels and Demons often get mistaken for avatars by those in the know about the Fears.

The broad strokes of both narratives stay the same, so the GO apocalypse is prevented, but then TMA eyepocalypse happens and GO's characters are really salty about it. The eyepocalypse doesn't trigger a war between Heaven and Hell because of a legal loophole.

Tadfield is completely immune to the influence of all the fears because of Adam's powers, like Salesa's safehouse during the eyepocalypse or like how Aziraphale and Crowley hid Gabriel from Heaven and Hell with a miracle. Aziraphale's bookshop and the building with elevators to Heaven and Hell are the same in that aspect due to the concentration of divine/occult energy. This also applies during the eyepocalypse.

Aziraphale is Jurgen Leitner's biggest hater. He drunkenly made the Jurgen Leitner rant™ in universe while Crowley was cackling and wheezing on the floor. He's been "in correspondence" with Jonah Magnus 200 years ago and is the reason Jonah got obsessed with immortality in the first place. They first met each other at a discreet gentlemen's book club. Aziraphale deeply regrets ever talking to him. He had to fight off Mike Crew with a broom, when he was still looking for a Leitner to call his own. People in the know about the Fears, but not the existance of Angels and Demons assume Aziraphale to be an avatar of the Eye, possibly another Archivist.

Crowley's assumed to be an avatar too, but noone can agree what fear he serves. For a time Desolation was a popular theory, which he hated. Now they lean more toward the Web, the Stranger or the Spiral. He knew Maxwell Rayner back when he was Edmond Halley, because they were both in the astronomy circles at the time. A lot of the things he takes credit for on his reports to Hell are actually the doing of Fear avatars, it works out, because Hell refuses to acknowledge the Fears as a point of pride and noone bothers to check.

Gertrude thought about blowing up the bookshop, but Aziraphale convinced her otherwise. They had tea.

Jared Hopworth called Aziraphale a slur once and had to promptly change career paths.

Jon and Martin passed through Tadfield at some point during the eyepocalypse and met Adam. It was kind of awkward, but they got to pet Dog.

Agnes Nutter wasn't an avatar, she was just like that. Her prophecies mostly didn't concern the Fears, aside from telling one of her descendants not to go to the hundred and fifth house on a road atop a hill.

Anathema and Newt stay as far away from the Fears as possible, especially after Newt's encounter with Sergey Ushanka (Newt accidentally deleted him).

Everyone thinks Shadwell and Tracy are avatars, of the Hunt and the End respectively. They're not. They're just scammers. Tracy likes that it makes her seem more legitimate. Shadwell doesn't like the Fears, but he doesn't count them as witchcraft (except for the Flesh, because nipples, obviously), so he doesn't really care.

Nina and Maggie on the other hand are avatars. They're pretty good at hiding it though. Not sure which ones, probably the End and the Vast. Nina's ex is an avatar of Corruption.

[a-mag-a-day]

A small detail I really like:

According to Wikipedia, there are three pronunciations of the name Halley. The most commonly used today rhymes with "valley", but there's also HEY-lee and HALL-ee. There is no consensus as to how to pronounce it in the case of Edmond Halley, and in fact "Contemporary accounts spell his name Hailey, Hayley, Haley, Haly, Halley, Hawley and Hawly, and presumably pronunciations varied similarly."

Jonny's response to this was to use all three. Simon Fairchild says HALL-ee, Basira and Jon say HEY-lee, and Jon as Flamsteed says Halley-rhymes-with-valley. I love that, it's yet another little thing to show that, yes, he really is experiencing these people on some level.

Considering Jonny pronounced “Gerard” two different ways in the same episode, I’m not sure if that was deliberate.

What do people think?

[mandolinearts]

hence i dare venture to foretell, that it will return again in the year 1758. 

- edmond halley, 1696. 

 when you're immortal, a once-in-a-lifetime visit from a comet can be a welcome return of a friend. from my fic! 

[whencyclopedia]

Edmond Halley

Edmond Halley (1656-1742) was an English astronomer, mathematician, and cartographer. Halley's Comet is named after him since he accurately predicted its return in 1758. One of the early globetrotting scientists, Halley led several maritime expeditions to far-flung places to compile reliable data on the Earth's magnetic field. He also invented a diving suit and pioneered a working diving bell.

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