Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1847-01-28

Ihe celebrated Clairaut, assisted by Lalande,
found that 1t would be retarded lou days by
the attraction of Saturn, and SOL by Jupiter.
In the month of November, 1853, when the
comet was expected, he announced that it
would reach its perihelion on the 18th of
April, 1859. 1t actually made its appear
ance in December, 1859, having been dis
covered by George Palitzeh, Saxon farm
err and it arrived at its perihclion on the
18th March, 1859, only thirty days before
the predicted time.
This remarkable body was again expect
ed in 1885, and it was discovered at Rome
on the 9Th August of that year. 1t reached
its perihelion about the beginning ofNovem-
Der, only eight or nine days from the pre-
dicted time In 1881, the colour of the
comet was bright gold yellow: in 1907, it
was dark and livid in 1852 it was bright,
and in 1859 it was pale and obscure, and in
1885 it was pale and faint. Captain Smith
made a very interesting drawing of it, in
which bright central point stands in the
middle of a sharp crescent, having its CON
cavity turned towards the sun, round neb-
ulosity extending little beyond the cup of
the crescent, and running out into an OBJ
scure tail of no great length M. Arago had
stated in his able treatise on comets, that in
those which have tails the luminous ring en-
circling the nucleus is closed only on the
side next the Sun, that is, it has a crescent
form, with its convex side towards the Sun,
whereas, in Captain Smiths drawing, the
crescent was turned in the opposite direc-
tons
Long as is the journey which this comet
performs in each century, it is short COM
pared with that of 1911, to which Besse
has ascribed a period of 1888 years, and
Argelander one of 1888 years The comet
of 1863 is supposed to have so long a peri
cd as 1884 years and Encke, as we have
already stated, ascribes to that of 1850, a
period of $500 years but we cannot place
much confidence in these numbers The
periods of comets can only be deduced from
their successive Temperatures.
While it was the universal belief among
astronomers that every comet wandered far
beyond the limits of our system, the shortest
period being rs years, the celebrated Pro.
fessor Encke, in 1919, announced the dis
covery of comet of such short period,
scarcely 3 ID years. that its orbit was inclu-
ded in our solar system, its remotest part eX-
tending little beyond the orbit of Pallas,
and the other reaching to that of Mercury
The ecccntricity is nearly the same as that
of the planet Juno, and it moves almost in
the plane of the ecliptic. Its periods be-
tween the years l7S6 and 1888, have been
regularly diminishing day 30 hours in each
revolution. This comet is very faint one,
being Just visible with the naked eye, and
destitute of tail.
In the year 1896, astronomers were again
surprised at the discovery of another comet
by Captain Biela, which has a period of
3-4 years, and whose orbit extended beyond
that of Jupiter, but did not reach the orbit
of Saturn Its light was still fainter than
the comet of Encke. Its orbit came so near
the ecliptic, that it passed within $4,000
miles of point in the earths orbit, on the
Doth October, 1882, the previous announce
ment of which in Paris created such alarm
that NJ Arago was called upon to allay the
fears of the community. The earth arrived
at that point of its orbit about month after
the comet had passed it, bnt the distance o
the two bodies was then 55 millions of miles
A third comet, moving within the bound:
of the planetary system, was discovered a
Paris on the 22d November, 1913, by M DIT
Faye. Its period is years and five tenths
and it is remarkable for its orbit, which ap
proaches nearer to circle than that of an
other comet, and which is included between
the orbits of Mars and Saturn There
reason to believe that this comet is the los
comet of ITO, which appeared, from tn
computations of Lexell, to have had its orb
changed, by the action of Jupiter, from al
elongated ellipse to an oval, with a pero
of 5 10 years Although it ought to hav
, reappeared thirteen times since ITO, it ha
never till lately been seen by astronomers
Burckhardt was of opinion that it might hav
become satellite to Jupiter, from the proN
unity of its aphelion to that planet, an
others coniectured that it might hav
passed near the minor planets, and imparte
to Ceres and Pallas those large atmosphere
which surround them, and which do not eS
list in Juno, or Vesta, or Astr@a. But it
temperance in lS43 shows that, if the las
hypothesis be true, it has only given Por
: ton of its vapour to Ceres and Pallas.
When we consider the great number c
comets which have been actually seen, an
recolect that, on the hypothesis of their be
ing equally distributed in space, there woul
be nearly $50, 900 of them that would ap
proach nearer to the sun than Uranus, W
can scarcely conceive that any real come
belongs to our own system, and are there
fore led to imagine some rational origin 70
the three small and almost telescope comet
which we have now been describing as der
liens fthe solar system. These three boo
les are as remarkable anomalies among con
cts as the five fragments of one planet ar
in the planetary system; and when we cor
slider their proximity to the new planets, an
the similarity of their orbits, we think it
not very wild supposition that they ma
have been formed when the great planet be
tween Mars and Jupiter was burst, and ma
be part of the gasses or vapours which eth
er had been imprisoned in its interior, @
which had entered into the composition {
its atmosphere.
Comets have, in all ages excited terro
, and alarm among nations, and we can scarce
ly venture to say that the knowledge whic
we now possess of their nature and move
ments has tendency to dissipate these fears
Comets have passed near the earth, and ma
pass still nearer but even if they shout
not produce those tremendous effects whic
even Lapace has indicated, and II thei