Litchfield enquirer., 1858-10-07
THE COMET AS SEEN THROUGH A TELESCOPE.
PROF. M1rcHELL's OBSERVATIONS,

Ra l PROF. MIrCHEIL'S OBSERVATIONS t&s I o H. Mitchell, of the Cincinnati ca sfva- tory, communicates to the Daily Gaa kte a livery interesting paper regarding the 2Nnet 1wlich now makes so fine d display in o:s mes- l tern heavens at night. It was discoyelsd by Professor Donati, of Florence, Italy, s3earIy four months ago, and for a large portion of the time since it was detected has been stead- l fly approaching the earth, and ill difAr<ion so nearly coincident with tae visuul raI that but for the computations of astronomers, knight well excite anticipations of some fearful scolks- iou with our planet. Indeed, throughout the present mouth it seems to have been plugging downward so exactly toward the earth that 1t. scarcely changed its apparent place amdlg the. I fixed stars by n quantity larger Ihan 70 or three times the diameter of the moon
 i II will reach its nearest approach to snn in few days It brllIiancy will hcreaIe rap idly up to the close of the first V Octo- Der, when it will put ou its most spieEtad ap- pearance, and will then rival in grsndem tl,e famous Comet of HalIcy, at its last retprn-in | 1886. zss
 This comet, Professor Mitchell. says wiJ soon commence to change its dir,,ction, ,iK first slowly, aterward luore rapidly, us sectflrcn the earth, when sweeping swiftly rouiA the sun il will regain those distant regions og14Hce wherein a vast proportion of its orbit lr:s far beyond the reach of telescopic vision." Ee fur | tllrr states
 "On the evening of the 25th of Sertainber the appearance of the comet, in the grfat re- tractor of the Cincinnati Observatory, was es- pecialIy interesting. The ccutral portion, or nucleus, was examined with powers varying from one hundred to five hundred, without presenting any evidence of a weil-dclncl plail- ctary dsc It was a brilIi,nt glow of light, dartlng ard flashing forward in .lIc d2cction of the motion toward the sun, and leaving the region behind ill comparative ohscurtys But the most wond rlul hyscal feature pltseDted was portion of q aearty csreHbaa Malpf0us ring, with its yertex directed towa11lsae sun, the bright nucleus being ill the cens while the imperfect ring swept more than Tound the luminous centre. This nctilous sg re- senbIed those which sometimes. escap From d sleam-lpe, but did not exhibit thessiprsarauce which ought to be presented by a bellew le- misphericaI envelope of nebulous matter
 "There was an evident concentration of light in the central portions of the ri,ls while, in the case of hollow envelope, The baghtest portion should be ut the outer edge. By mi crometrit al measurement, the distance rom the central point to the circumference gf t&e ring was found to be about nine thousand miles. This would give a diameter of eighsesa thou- sand miles, ill case the ring was entresv Simi- lar measurements, made on the evening of the 26th of September, indicated etcded ill- crease n the rad,us of the ring, which Vas now not less than twelve thousand miles in length. On the same evening noticed the f4ct that the luminous envelope did not blend 1;self into the head portion of the tail, but appeared ; 4EseYewhat te Eeaetsates int nehnle,k asass especially ou the upper part. presenting the appearance of about 200 degrees of a spiral. The tail on the 25th was deeidediy brighter and better defined on the upper than. ou the lower portion, while on the evening of tie 26th there was much nearer approach to equality in brightness, especially near the head of the comet. Through the telescope, and near the head, the tail presented the appearance of a hollow, nebulous envelope, under the form of q parabaloid of revolution, the edges being bright est and well defined, while there was mani fest fading away of light towards the central region Through the vast depth ofsipbuons matter composing this won9frful alsasndage, the faiutest telescopic stars shone w!.lh undi- unfinished brightness.
 "No one can gaze on thls gigantic ie-;,pbjcct, in all its misty splendor, without T afp ini- pr ss on that the eye is resting on 4.iass ol nebulous matter precisely such as the nebulous theory of La Place surposes to hays Been the condition of our sun and all it's attendant plan ets and from which chaotic condition this beautiful system of revolving worlds has been evoked by the action of a single law.
 "The only comet which has presented all appearance resembling the one now visible is the one known as Haley's Comet, as seen by Sir. William 1Icrschel and others, on it's rc- turn in 1886. There is a marked difference between the two: That while the envelope ol Haley's Comet is described as hemispherical hollow envelope, this shows more the shape oi a nebulous ring th,re is a faint, misty light, of irregular outline, but not to be mistaken by even casual observer"