Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1843-03-16

Celestial Phenomenon.

remarkable celestial visitor. II Is seen to bes
advantage about o'clock, P. M.,--when it ap
pears, stretching from base line formed by the
horizon on the west. far out in eastwardly direc
ton, making acute angle with the horizon Of a.
bout 90 degrees-the opening being towards the
southeast. Is ii a CoMErf If so, its body has
travelled below the horizon, ere the darkness oi
evening has set in-and. hence we perceive only
this long stream of light, making what Is com.
monty called its tail. This luminous tail, when
in its greatest length reaches across the hea-
ven, the space Of 80 degrees.
The writer OF th, communication has seen one
or two comets. in hi. day; but they had diHsren,
aspect from this particular phenomenon--Gnd from
their apparent size must have travelled million. OF
miles further from our earth than this supposed
comet does. Upon the assumption that u may be
comet, have thrown together the subioned
thought. and facni which Mr. Hunter may in.
ser, in his paper, IL he consider them worthy of a
place.
In all ages Of the world unusual Appearances in
the heaven. have attracted the notice OF the learn
ed while they have, universally, excited the fears
Of the ignorant. Eclipses OF the sun and moon TO
thi. day, among the ignorant portend Away. some.
thing dreadful-bus especially are these my.teri-
gu, and eccentric wanderers, he comets, object.
Of terror, or Of religious awe In tho hand, of q
Columbus, Smith and Cooke, the eclr.e. Of
the sun and moon mnde the engines to extort
r.. ~.
have been withheld: echpses have saved cities,
and overwhelmed with conformation assaultins ar
mics. they have changed tho destiny of nations,
and hsv, advanced, or retard-d--n an equal ratio
the improve mont of mankind. during periods re-
mote from our day, And when we tsks sur-
vsy of historic facts, this head We will no, be
more surprised At he effect Of an eclipse upon the
minds of men, than at the theory Of the South Sea
Islanders, Who suppose that an eclipse i. caused by
great 6.h attempting to swallow the sun which
cslsnity they Essay to avert BY a general hue
and rrv beating of drums &c, 10 fris h,en tho
m.u.'er fton tho effort So of Comets In evsry
centuv, thew have been seen of greater less mag
nitu@e and hrilliency; and their appearance has
excited the terrors OF the mass. as precursors OF
evil, or the evidence. of certain destruction. So
singular seems their existence. that there are those
who look mpoa them as the appropriate in.tru-
ments Of mundane ruin, reserved nv Divine Piovi-
dence, against the day OF final overthrow.
Comets, We nre told by standard au,hpr, differ
from planets, principally in that ist the courses
which they describe round the SUM- If they do re-
tsrn into themselves, very eccentric that any
along that p,rt Of its orbit in the vicinity Of the
sun; bu, during mos, part of hs course is quite
invisible to us: 2dly, that their periodical times
very difficult to be sscer'.ined, brcsuse long
periods interviews thst it hardly fall. TO the lot Of
one man to ace the same body return twic. 10 the
neiEhhorhsod cf the sun-snd even then it would
BE- difficult t., ,des,ify it, Sdly, that their shapes
sr- nethcr ~--dcfned nor ennstsni-hut most of
these bodies sre surrounded hy an indefinite fam,
HIGHT tail, hairy irfsdistion, coma, from
which they have the name Comets.
We sre quite ignorant of the uses Of comets,
in the fabric of the universe, as Of their Number.
The number has been very great and the the.
cries $. to their otigu &c, are almost as numer-
Gus. La Lsnde, Newton, and Vince will show TO
the examiner these various speculatons,
The opparest motion Of comets. like that OF all
the celestial bodies il from the east towards the
we.t-whirh arises from the dur nal rotation OF the
earth in an opposite direction; but comets have
= peculiar notion each different from the others
Some perform their proper movements from west
to ess,-others from the east towards tho west; -
of them move in the plane of the ecliptic, or
trctions, even perpendicular to the plane Of the
eelipuc.
Hence, each comet appears to move in par.
ticuar course which has the sun In its focus-thst
eipsls-thst they are governed by the universal
law of nature, Gravitaton--snd are sctuated by
al impusiee force which prevents their falling to
the centre Of attraction. But although thus much
is known of comets it ia almost impossible TO cal
cuate, with certainty, their periodical return
from the fact that we see them for so short time.
OF the myrads which have been SEEM not above
six o. seven comets have been calculated with NC
curacy sufficient to render their periods tolerably
we'll known. Newton supposed that they might
describe very sccenttio eilipses and might reap
pear at every revolutioni and HALEY verified the
Newtoninn theory by actual calculations, upon OBJ
servatons Of several comets The comet which
appeared in the yesrs 1856, 1881, 1907 1852, and
1859, |, supposed to be the same-whch would
make that comets period about rs years. If
so, il ought to have appeared about 1884 Since
1884 comets have been seen; but wheather any
one of them was this particular comet, | am not
prepated to say. Another was seen in the year
I53s. and again in 1861 1T was sgain looked for
IN 1889 or 1890, but did not appear. According
to HALEY, the great comet of 1850 is to re-appear
in the year 1854. This comet is conjectured TO be
the one which appeared in the days Of Cesar, in
the year o79 and 2349 before our ssvior's birth.
Comets do not remain long in sight--varying
from few nights to six months OF those which
have remained in sight for six months, one is said
to have appeared in the year GA. during the reign
Of Nero; another appeared in 6o3, in the time Of
Mahomet; smother was seen in 1910, In Tanner.
lanes dsyi a fourth remained in sight for six
mouths, in the year lT29 And. doubtless, an ex-
animation of the worlds history about this period
would show the happening of soms event, impor-
tant enough Justify the popular notion, thar Com