Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1857-04-29
Prom she Nessswypsrs Hsrak
GREAT COMET /

:
II cha historians Of that age mention it In !
terms Of wontier ard astonishmeat.s 1t ap-s |
peaTed in its greatest spfenInr during the
months of A0fssk andsjeptembar, and sunt Il 4
cd through the xodiaeal conste, Nations Leo, /
Cancer, Gemini, into Orion These are the 4
considerations for that season OF the |
year \ and when the head Of SfsiG grand ro,sst
met was in the eastern horizon, in the early |.
morning SKY nhe tail stretched out past the |
towards the west The Chinese /
astronomers mention the tssii as upwards Of
one hundred degrees long, and curved IN the |
form of o sabre This comet reniaiued visi-
Bile, according TO historians, till the evening
Of the I'd of October. On that night Pope
Urban II died, and the superstition OF the
times attributed itsyyisitation for the purpose
Of bearing the soul Of that papai dignitarv to
its destined rest. 81
In the year $50, in early march there
appeared in the zodiacal constellation Virgo,
comet Of considerable ma rnitude 1t was
very closely watched at Vienna BY Paul Fa-
.bricus, astronomer to the Court Of Charles Y Z
the Emperor of Germany This astronomer s.
original observations have recentlybeen dis
covered in that city by Won Eitscow, a Ger
man astronomer, and have served to estab-,
Iish more correctly the path of this comet
through the heavens This comet never be-
came so conspicuous as that of 1864, before
referred to, but still it is described BY the
historians of that time as sgreat and bril-
liant star" s.-s =
. The apparent course OF this comet through
the heavens was quite different from that Of
1864. 1t passed from the constellation Vir-
90, northward througI, B6otes and the pole
20 ~
and disappeared towards the end of April,
to European observers though it continued
to be observed in Chan till the middle Of
Nav. a4ses ,sas4 s.a. 81 ssg
DR.. Edmund HALEY, the second astrono-
mer royal of England, calculated the ele-
ments Of the orbit OF this comet from copy
ofthe observation of Fabrieus The obser-
vations as exhibited in this copy, were so
inaccurate, that it was difficult to reconcile
the entire series with any rigorous compute
ton; however, elements were obtained which
very well represented its apparent path
through the heavens a1f ~ lstel -s
About fifty years after Dr. HALEY calcula-
ted the elements of this comet, Il Mr.. Dun
thorne computed the elements of the great
comet Of 1894, relying chiefly ON observa-
tons made by Friar Gilesat Cambridge. He
found the elements of the comet of 1864 to
resemble to such degree those of the comet
of $50, that he concluded that they were
different appearances OF the same body; and
assuming tlattherc had been no return be-
tween these times it must have revolution
of 292 years and would return again in 1873
Later. Pingre, a celebrated cometographer,
collected together all the observations Of the
comet of 1904. found in the histories and
chronicles Of the thirteenth century, and at.
ter an elaborate discussion Of them, which
may be seen in the memoirs of the Paris
Academy of Science for l76O, concluded
that the elements of the orbit Of the comet of
1864 would give path through the heavens
very nearly representa-. the path of the comet
of 1856. Pingres investigations of the ele-
mcnts of this comet, were SO elaborate, that
astronomers have given it his name.
e. Just before its expected return in 1913, Mr..
Hind OF Regents Park, London, formerly as
sistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,
investigated anew the identity of these two
| bodies He was enabled to bring to his in.
vestigations, some additional information con
corning its former appearances besides cor
recting some ofthe data ON which DR.. HALEY
and Pingre relied for their elements The
result of Mr.. Hind calculations, were like
those of Pingre and Dunthornes and, assum
| ing that the comet suffered no very great per
tubation from the planets during its absence
| would make its, appearance about. the year
| lS4S. .,..','s..,
The comet not making its appearance al
that time, induced Il distinguished German
| mathematician TO calculate the effect OF the
perturbing influence of the seven great plan
It's Applying the united effects of the dis
turhinS force of these planets to Dr. HALEY
orbit. he found that the comet would no,
reach its perthelion before the 22nd of Au
gust, 1860, at which time the revolution will
be about 304 years .......... ., .........
But he is rather inclined to adopt the orbi
OF MIR. Hind, before mentioned and applying
the perturbing force, he found thatthe comet
| would reach it's periheiion on the End of Au
gust, 1858 The principal difference between
DR.. HALEY orbit and Mr. Kinds, is in the
position of the major axis of the pellipse
| which is about four degrees, and which oc
! casions large differences in the distances O
the disturbing planets If the comets O
! 1864 and 1886 are identical, and there has
not been two or more returns since 1886, il
is quite certain that it will make its appear
| sance before the end of 1861 , -.s
Previous to the last twenty. five years, 1t is
possible tile comet may have passed through
| its perlhelion without being SEEM on account
OF its keeping somewhat remote from the
| earth, and in or near the suns rays; but the
aland unremitting watchfulness withwhicf
the heavens are examined under every SKY
and in every part of the globe quite precludes
such Il possible escape
/ : The uncertainty of the return ofthe come
does not arise from any uncertainty in ths
calculation of astronomers, but entirely upor
the uncertain data on which the calculation:
are founded. AT the two periods this come
made Its appearance, there was no very &C
curate means of measuring angles and time
/ two of the most essential elements in prac
teal astronolny-nor was the telescope in
vented. Astronomers are obliged to rely up
on the rude observations Of persons whose
heads were filed with astrologv and super
stition, and who, terrified with so extraordin
airy an appearance, were very liable to ex
| aggerate in their statements
"A comet now moving over SO large an arr
in the heavens as that Of 1866, would enable
astronomers to determine with precision II
| which OF the comic sections it moved. The
! elllptlcal motion of Il comet is asccrtained ir
| one or two ways first by calculation from
| observations extending over a sufficiently
/ large arc il the heavens during single ap
| pearance; and secondly, by the identity O
its parabolic elements, calculated from TWO
| different appearances. 1t is in this last way
that a connection is made between the comet
of 1864 and l556-identity of elements Ii
there should happen an occurrence Of reat
size, in addition to the sameness ofelements
it would be conclusive as to identity. The
comet of 1864 and 1856 were both described
as of great magnitude aaf+zs4
/ There has appeared within a short time
! in the 4stronon'ische 4Nnchsfchten, a Ger
man Astronomical Journal, two communion
/ tions, one Hook, n German astronomer. and
the other from Valz, French astronomer
in which they express great doubts as to the
! identity Of the comets OF 1864 and l556.-
/ Heck has made use of the newly discovered
observations of Fabrieus, in calculating the
elements; and they do not differ materially
from those of HALEY and Hind. Hoek is 81
opinion that the observations on which the
| elements of the comet Of 1864 arc founded
are too vague to be reliable; and he quite
puts forest any connection sought to be trac
ed between the great comet of $50 and that
OF ei3. As has been before observed, every
I IL. J.. i