Arkansas intelligencer., 1843-04-08

era dsuiaasioa: i "a aloas III u. after .he suD
~ psiss - - <ames will b undersioed TO
q r. - eopnst taation tsfors refsrrod %, III
sAsed ~ BELIEF tk6t il wls tsaving the solar sys
|tem a1peshing is 1be li recsion of the Greater
dog: have discovered nothing since materially to
change my epinisd, excfpt that i seems passing
on ahese Sirius, tcwirds the constellation Of
Orion: 80, Is It deparfs TO the south, of course it
|eptered from tIat sids Of tie ecliptic. Al
thcus took several other obseryations, wilf give
The results Of but couple more to illustrate lis
coursei renarkihg thai its appa,eni motion con-
tinued to decrease in regular, but rapid pro-
gression than tsrea velocity, owing to the curvily
| Of its path--its convex part being towards us.-
Three statements (including that already given)
are annexed. moro plainly 70 demonstrate their
comparative differences:
March II. Decl. nearly 10 dog. s. r. A. Oh. 4em.
.. "a. !. about 81 /. i. l,, ;. Sh. 34m.
This nst date was the last that was seen Of ,he
comet kcre; when tho nucleus (as will be found
from tho above) set over hours after the sun I
and aPparenfiy had departed little, though real.
" greatly from the plane of the ecliptic, during
the'two weeks noted.
The coma was then still distinguslable through
the telescope. yet very dim, and the tail though
long. was very feeble; il was evident it could be
visible but a few days longcr. We NAV form
stme notion of tho brisk rate al ukich il was re.
lceding from Us, whom we rofect that the earth
moves in its own orbit about 10 miles per second
to the eastward, whilst the comet flies at a still
greater speed to the westward, (for its course in
its orbit is retrograde.) thus separating us at the
rate VI 40 or SO miles per second. or about 100
times faster than the ordinary velocity Of a can
non ball! A series Of cloudy days followed, until
the evening of the 4lh inst. again presented clea
sky, when we watched with intense interest, but
not the slightest trace was discovernbe: yet had
It not been for the moon,- think q very faint de-
nention might still have been perceiyeJ Its peri
heIion, which it had passed before it was observed
here, was no doubt between tho orbits of Mercury
aud Venus. Its tail, when nj its greatest npparen,
length, extended an anglo in tho heavens Of about
As degrees. kilt TX
The body Of this comet may not have been seen
TO the northward as early as here because, frs,
in the higher nttudes il would. MS consequence.
set several minutes sooner after sun down thar
with Us: and secondly, it is known that the wcs-
tern atmosphere is not SO much embarrassed with
hazy dampness as upon the Atlantic coast; so
that dim objects ncar the horizon hero are more
easily distinguished.
II Is reasonable to suppose that this is ono Of the
thousands Of comets, which have heretofore appear
I'd; but their mutability is too well establish
ed to permit us to believe il can be recognized
by its appearance. fits elements have before
been determined, astronomers will idontify IL
bythe accordance Of its orbit with that Of some
one which remnins on record. The comet whose
tail WINS Of such horrifc dimensions as TO frfzhten
all Europe (and perhaps all The world) in l45G
and is said to have been excommunicated by the
Popc on nccoupt Of its diabolical aspect was
scnrcely visible at its fourth appearance thcreaf.
ter and at its and last in 1885 it show
I'd ''tnil'' of but few degrees in length: it be-
ing identified only rs above mentioned.
Comets have always been subjects of the VA |
guest speculation. It soens settled, however,
that they are the most Heterogeneous class Of OBJ
iects in the universe; their nucii Or rather their
bodies. ranging from solid substances 10 the rarest
vnpour; and when not solely composed of it, all
nj least seem cnvoloped in some gaseous liquid.
But their tails or trains have more especially puz-
zied the scientific. Various theories have been
advanced to account for this unn,tural s.5enrd, -
none Of which seem at all satisfactory. Were
the fnct ns a correspondent Of the Little Rock
Gazette intimatcs, TINT the "tnil is alwnys .lef1
behind" /" we might perhnps suppose" though
Ind never before heard that sastronomers sup
pose" any thing Of The kind) thnt it is produced by
the velocity: but this iscertainly very great mis-
take in our philosopher; for surely all astronomers
do agrye--very dforenty-that the tail is alwa vs.
projected in line from the sun, ,nly sometimes
little convex towards the drecto.. Of the motions
and ono or two have bsen branched. Therefore,
as the comet approaches tho sun the tiI is behind
when in perhelion il projects nt right angles with
the course. and i recedcs from the sun it cocs
before. Yet it stin seems maintained that these
tails aro actual v.pour of some kind though of
suc1 tenuity that, during thcr proximity 10 other
heavenly bodies. no porceivabie gravity or attrnc-
tive force {or srsigff gs we might as we'll call i,)
has boon detected 70 them. | would then ask,
what evidence havew we that they are substances
at all. and not mers coored rays Of light or shad-
owsl Until after this comet appeared Ind qui-
esceny received the common theories, as will np-
pear ftom the commuucntion to which have be-
fore alluded; but subsequent reflection has caused
me e thick of another: and though it will be rsck-