Reply To: Science and Astronomy in the Torah

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squeak
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There is a maaseh in the gemara about two Tannaim (I think Rabban Gamliel was one) who are on a boat and one of them brought more food than was necessary on the trip. The other asked him why he brought so much food and he replied that once every 70 years there is a star that appears in the sky and confuses the navigation experts. Since the time for this star to appear had come, the Tanna brought extra food to eat while the boat would be lost at sea. Sure enough, the captain admitted that they were stuck and the two Tannaim had to share the extra food.

Some later Acharonim did the calculations and determined that the star in this story was Halley’s comet.