Halley’s Comet is perhaps the most famous comet in the universe. It comes around every 72-80 years, and its path means that it is visible with the naked eye from Earth, so it is easy to see why it is so well-known.

The comet was named after Edmond Halley, who is a very well-respected English astronomer. While he obviously wasn’t the first to see the comet, he was widely considered to be the first to use observations to prove that comets that showed up in 1531, 1607, and 1682 were actually all the same comet.

New research based on a book by Professor Michael Lewis of the British Museum and Professor Simon Zwart of Leiden University, however, says that the monk Eilmer of Malmesbury actually knew of the cyclic path of the comet about six centuries earlier.

Eilmer was an interesting character, having been known to attach wings to his arms and legs and fly about 200 meters (660 feet), breaking his legs upon landing.

All of Eilmer’s writings have been lost, but another monk, William of Malmesbury, was a historian who lived in the same Abbey as him and documented some of what he did. This documentation, however, comes about 50 years after his death.

Even though William is seen as a reliable historian, that time gap does make the information slightly weaker.

His writings say that Eilmer had predicted that the comet would return in 1066, and he talked extensively about what that might mean for English politics.

If it can be reliably proved that Eilmer truly did work out the path of the comet, an argument could be made that it should be named after him, since that is the case with most comets.

The reality is, however, that it is extremely unlikely that the comet will be renamed either within scientific communities or throughout popular culture.

Halley’s comet is extremely well-known, and Edmond Halley is one of the most prominent astronomers from his time period.

So, while Eilmer may not get the credit he deserves, it should be enough that whatever his contribution to this comet may be, people are still talking about it hundreds of years later.

If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.