Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1858-09-29
The Blazing Comet--TeIescopic View.


To the naked eye the great Comet OF 1883 is
now an attractive sight, and it will continue to
be for some time yet. Professor Mitchell, the
savau of the Cincinnati Observatory, has favored
the public with description as examined by
the aids of science Since first discovered in
Italy, about four months since, he says at has
been steadily approaching the earth, and IN a
direction so nearly coineident with the visual
ray, that but for the reliable computations OF
astronomers, might well excite authorizations of
some fearful collision with our own planet
Indeed, throughout the present month it seems
to be plunging downward so exactly toward the
earth that it scarcely changed its place among
the fixed stars by quantity larger than two or
three times the apparent diameter of the
moon"
Prof n states that the Comet will reach its
nearest approach to the sun in q few days, and
that its brilancy will increase rapidly up to the
close of the first week in October, when it will
put in its most splendid appearance, and will
then rival in grandeur the famous comet Of
Haley, at its lass return in 1886. The comet
will soon commence to change its direction, at
first slowly, afterward more rapidly, as seen
from the earth, when sweeping swiftly round
the sun it will regain those distant regions of
space wherein j vast proportion of its orbit lies
far beyond the reach of telescope vision.
On the evening of the 25th of September the
appearance of the comet in the great refractOr
Of the Cincinnati Observatory, was especially
interesting. The central portion or nucleus,
was examined with powers varying from one
hundred TO five hundred without presenting
evidence of a well-defned planetary dise-
1t was a brilliant glow Of light, darting and
flashing forward in the direction of the motion
toward the sun, and leaving the region behind
in comparative obscurity. But the most won
derful physical feature presented was portion
of nearly circular, RebHlOus ring, with its vOr-
tex directed toward the sun, the bright nucleus
being in the center, while the imperfect ring
swept more than half way round the luminous
center. This neubulous ring resembled those
which sometimes escape from a steam pipe, and
did not exhibit the appearance which ought to be
presented by hollow hemispheTical envelOp OF
nebulous matter. There was an evident coDcen-
tration ofght in the central portions oil ring,
while in the case of hollow envelop, the bright
est portion should be at the outer edge. By mi
crometical measurement the distance from the /
central point to the circumference ofthe ring was
found to be about 5000 miles. This would /
give diameter of eighteen thousand miles, in |
case the ring was entire. Similar measure /
meDts, made on the evening of the 26,h of Sep |
tember, indicated decided increase in the rad /
ius of the ring which was now not less than |
twelve thousand miles in length On the same /
evening noticed the fact that the luminous en-
velop did not blend itself into the head portion
of the tail, out appeared somewhat 10 penetrate
into this nebulOus mass, especially on the up
per part, presenting the appearance Of about 200
degrees Of a spiral The tail on the 25lh was
decidedly brighter and better defined on the up
per than on the lower portion, while on the
evening of the 26th there was a much nearer
approach to equality in brightness, especially
near the head Of the comet Through the tel
escOpe, and near the head, the tail presented
the appearance Of hollow nebulous envelOp,
under the form Of a parabaloid of revolution,
the edges being brightest and well defined,
while there was manifest fading away oflight /
toward the central region. Through the vast
depth of nebulous matter composing this won
derful aPPendage the faintest telescope stars
shone with undImished brightness.
No one can gaze on this gigantic object, in
all its misty spleRfOr, without a deep impress
sion that the eye IS resting on mass Of nebu-
lous matter, reeisely such as the nebular the
ory of La Place supPoses to have been the pri-
mordial condition of our sun and all its attendant
planets, and from which chaotic condition this
beautiful system of revolving worlds has been
evoked by the action of single law
The only comet which has presented an ap-
Pearance resembling the one now visible, is the
one known as Halley's Comet, as seen by Sir
VIM. Herschel, and others in its return in 1886.
There is this marked difference between the
two: That while the envelop OF Halley's Comet
IS described as 4 hemispherical hollow enveloP,
this shows more the shape of a nebulous ring :;
there is faint misty light, Of irregular out
line, but not to be mistaken by even 4 casus,
ohserver 1