Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-10-28
COMETS

which and its near approach to the earth have
caused it to be the object of almost unusual at
tention and admiration. When first seen by
the naked eye it was situated near the constel-
lation OF Leo Minor, from whence it has passed
through the consultations of Coma Berenices
Bootes (Bo-o-tes), where it passed but one de-
dree below the bright star Arcturus, and is, at
the time of writing this article, seen blazing
with seemingly undiminishcd iustre between
the consultations of Serpentarus and libra or
the scales. The length of the :" tail " of this
comet is estimated at 5000 900 miles, and its
distance from the sun at its nearest approach at
little over 40 1000, 900 miles, and it came
within about 5O,000,O00 miles of the earth
The orbit of this comet, like that of all Others
is In the form Of very elongated ellipse, with
the sun in one foci and the other far out in the
regions of space. 1t will probably not remain
visible much longer but will pass down into the
southern hemisphere through the constellation
Saggittarus and disappear below the southern
horizon, to return again in some future age to
he the object of wondder and admiration from
generations yet to be.
A brilliant comet, like the one now visible,
whether viewed as mass of vapor, or as sol
I'd opaque body, is an object of no ordinary in
terest. No one can observe it as it passes along
with its brilliant train of light among the starry
heavens, coming from the infnity of space
toward the cenhe of our solar system, and
again vanishing away into the dim distance ;
without feelings of the deepest awe and rever-
ence towards that Almighty Power that can
set in motion, control, and regulate such gigan-
tic monsters in Il oir furious career among the
stars.
That part of comet which is the brightest
or most Opaque is called the nucleus or head,
and is usually accompanied by a long train of
light called the tail, though sometimes they
seem to be minus this appondage, and much
resemble the planets. This tail usually follows
the comet when it approaches the sun, and goes
before it when the comet recedes from the sun !;
and Astronomers tell us, is sometimes curved
J toward the region to which the comet is tend
ing, though in the case of the comet now vis-
BILE, it seems curved in the opposite direction in
consequence probably, of the velocity Of its
notion which was estimated, at the time of its
perihelion or passage of that point of its orbit
nearest the sun, to be about $1,000 miles an
hour. Sometimes the same comet has several
tails That of I744 has no less than sir and
one in 1923 had for several days two tails, one
7 extending towards the sun and the other from
Y it. Of the nature of these luminous appcn
dages little is known. Some Astronomers sup.
4 pose them to be produced by the rays of the
4 sun transmitted through the nucleus, whicl
. they supposed to be transparent and to operat'
d as a lens. Some think it is the atmosphere o
the comet driven off by the suns rays whil
h Others imagine that they are Il thin vapor ris
ing from the heated nucleus as smoke ascend:
n from the earth Some Astronomers also thinl
| there are three classes of comets =; viz; lst
IL Those which have no nucleus being Transparent
= throughout their whole extent; ID. Thos
,e which have II transparent nucleus and 3D.
le Those having nucleus which is solid an(
l. Opaque.
e Whatever may be their nature, it is evidcn
ID they are capable of enduring inconceivabl
IS quantities of heat and cold. The comet o
III 1850 passed within 1870 900 miles of the sum
surface, receiving from him heat q 900 time
or hotter than does the earth. This intensity q
" heat is several thousand times hotter than tina
Or of red hot iron, and any simple mass Of vapo
would be dissipated at once.
r The present comet is remarkable for its com
paratively slow motion, seeming to pass Owe
space of only about deg. in twenty-fou
l. hours. " According to Regiomontanus, tn
- comet of 1872 moved over an area of 100 deg
:, in one day Brydone observed comet at Pa
=. crmo in ITO, which passed over 500 deg
twenty-four hours. Another comet which AZ
- peared in 1859 passed through Al deg in I'll
;. same time the conjecture of DR.. HALEY ther
bo fore seems highly probably, that if a body
= such u size, having considerable density al
rt moving with such velocity were to strike OF
a earth it would instantly reduce it to chac
~ mingling its elements in ruin ''-BurriHs Cld
-, Book of Astronomy. The chances for such
bo event however, arc not sufficiently numerous
-. US to dread its occurrence. The best Fren
Mathematicians and Astronomers having solv
the problem % TO determine, upon mathen,atic
e principles how many chances of collision
. earth is erpOscd to, and found that of 2Sl O0t
;to 900 of chances only one was unfavorable.
ts is clear from observation that comets conta
be very little matter, for they produce little or
~ effect on planets when passing near those bodit
ID E" A comet actually got eata'yled among t
is satellites of Jupiter, was thrown out OF its {
ava bit, and has not been heard of since, but
-, this remarkable recontre their motions suffer
air not the least perceptihle arrangement Al
~, a comet once eclipsed the moon, yet neither t
,,s motions of the earth OF moon, were in t
ma least disturbed by its near approach, Sir Jo
be Herschel was able with his telescope to
LOO tinguish stars as small as the 18th magnitu
% through the body of the CONT, known
see Brela's Comet" consequently its substar
i'm must be infinitely more rarefed than our o,
q atmosphere. What regions these bodies Vi
of when they pass beyond our view, upon wi
The mission they retnrn, and what important Ell
they were created toaccomplishl in the econol
Of the universe, can never be anything
matters of conjecture to the human mind
! Asking the readers pardon for this tenn