a british astronomer who figured out that they had seen a comet, but they were not people seeing different comets. people were seeing the same comet as it came around again and again on a regular schedule. that he figured out. he figured out the comet s orbit, where it was in space and when it would come around again. that is the idea edmond halle became famous for. but way back in 1716, same dude, realized that human beings were about to get an amazing chance, an amazing chance to figure out where we are in space. we knew already that we were on a planet and that our little planet went around the sun, but we couldn t be sure about where we were in the solar system or how far apart the planets were from each other or how far we all were from the sun. in 1716 in edmond halle s lifetime, that part of life on earth was still very much a mystery.