The Story of Comets, Part One: As Above, So Below

Over the course of a century, three men cracked the ancient mystery of comets, transforming them from harbingers of death to mundane celestial objects: Tycho Brahe, Isaac Newton, and Edmond Halley. This is their story.

0:00 Comets in antiquity
6:30 Tycho's supernova
14:45 Tycho's ego-house
19:25 Tycho's comet
21:35 Tycho's exile and death
24:58 Edmond Halley
27:21 Halley in St Helena
28:14 Newton's Comet
30:31 Wren's bet
33:18 Halley and Newton
37:57 Halley's Comet
39:49 Calculating the comet's return
42:07 Proper motion
44:10 Credits

[Dunmerdog]

Hands down my favourite series on YouTube. You've got a number of incredible skills for this, but I think two are most prominent. First, your oratory is just divine, man, it's perfect in tone for the subject material. Second is definitely the storytelling. You have an incredible way with history that makes me so so so happy; I want to do something similar with my career in the future

[eugenandreismaranda]

Still watching and re-watching this!! Kudos

[joethebassplayer]

I love to listen to these as I try to fall asleep but they are so interesting that I end up staying up too late listening to them... As mentioned in other comments, your narration is really great! With all the crap going on in the world, your videos are a much welcomed source of inspiration, Thank You!

[sa_exploder]

I recently discovered your channel, and ended up binging about 4 hours of your content last night. Your knowledge and passion for astronomy and history is... addicting, and your content just keeps getting better and better. Despite the gap in production value, I find your videos much more entertaining and engaging than most (if not all) bigger science Youtube channels and TV shows. If you were to start a Patreon or something, I would absolutely contribute. Keep up the great work, dude!

[brownlab]

So happy I stumbled on this delightful, intelligent channel! Thank you for these videos.

[epicurusone]

Another stunning documentary.
Thanks! Really enjoyable.

[elizabethorman]

Absolutely fascinating! This is more thorough and more entertaining than any college class I took on astronomy. Thank you for the time and effort you put into your work - it is phenomenal

[cheeseak]

Wow, what a presentation! I gotta watch more of your videos! I didnt get bored like I expected to with videos this length🤣. Great work, looking forward to part 10! 👍

[Cipher]

I studied astrophysics at university, I've followed numerous science channels on YouTube, and yet there's something about your videos that makes them my undisputed favorite amongst all the various forms of education I've received on the topic. Please keep up the good work. Your channel is criminally underrated.

[jedgrahek]

"Perhaps it is fitting he saw impermanence where others saw eternity"

Damn, that's very nice.

[CelticSaint]

17:13 - TYCHONIS BADASSTUS. A friend of Monty Python's 'Bigus Dickus' was he?

[easley]

Been waiting days for this my man. Ill end up watching it like 15 times.

[nooch]

So glad I had something to watch today instead of the AFL grand final.

[sdvalen]

Another ParallaxNick masterpiece. Thanks for your attention to historical detail. Very enlightening. I am a die-hard fan of your videos, so I find myself in strange territory disagreeing with anything in one. In particular, I remember Robert Hooke from high school physics. We still learn his law describing the force required to stretch (or compress) a spring. I have to agree that if not for his feud with Newton, he would probably be a lot better remembered today. I had no idea of his other contributions.

[TheMaplestrip]

Oh wow, such a good video. Tycho has always been a favorite crater of mine, and learning about what kind of unusual figure he was is fascinating. You really did the somewhat comedic _History of Fish_ fact justice, and your build-up towards Halley's comet (referring back to all of the earlier comets) was amazing. Thank you, as always, for expanding my knowledge of the history of science so profoundly!

[petetube]

Ever since I read Carl Sagan's books as a teenager I've loved the history of Astronomy. I still treasure those books, he had a way of digressing into interesting anecdotes while simultaneously keeping to the point and always holding you in thrall. Your videos have all the same qualities. They are a significant achievement.

[istvansipos]

seeing this, and just imagining the insane amount of work and research behind it, I simply can't understand the 5 dislikes
BIG LIKE

[rhoddryice]

17:18 Tychonis Badasstus Est
40:06 "Eddie baby, you don't even know"
Love it.

[oncaphillis]

great work !!! one of the very best channels

[GoDodgers]

Oh, there is a really funny part at 17:15. The words on the wall. Tychonis Badasstus Est. heh, Badasstus?