, 1861-07-08

c1EcfNNAu AND 81 CHICAGO & AIR LINE Ii: i
s.zop. n. e4op. S n n.
The Comet.
This new visitor seems to have taken the
Swans by surprise. Who the stranger is, aud
where be came from, Is mooted question
with the best Of them. MI. Bradley, OF the
Allegheny (Pa) Observatory, reports his OBJ
eervatiops OF it as follows:
There is no description Of 1t in the books !;
nothing in any late astronomical calculations
anywhere which would lead one to expect
the appearances Of any such celestial stranger,
and, moreover, while the approach Of comets
this one burst suddenly into view IN ali It's
full etIulgence. I am certain there was moth
ing like It in the heavens on Saturday night
or the night before. and am. therefore, the
Ee1e astounded at such variAtion from the
known habits Of comets.
Mr. Bradley makes the following calcu1a-
tons Of its position:
"1hs great Comet Of 1861, AZ seen from the He
qhany Observatory, s]un< 80, at .nsnutes pas
3 in the ercniRg
"Nncleus in the Lynx about IS deg. B. L.,
and about 50 deg. n. Declination; well defined,
both to the unaesisted eye and als,o by mag
nifying power Of 60 or 90, and in either case
apparently much larger than the planet Jupi-
tcr: Tail deg broad, and more than 60 deg.
in length, extending between the head OF Ursa
Mejor ard the Camelopard, and about midway
between Po1ar;s and Beta Ursa Mnoris, and
onward almost to Lyra- It does not set in
this latitude, but is visible during the night,
skirting, the northern horizon. It will, be on
the meridian today at; abont u o'clock, aud
about ten degrees to the north Of our:zenith
By the appearances Of the tail there is reason
to ilfer that it is approaching the sun at au
incoucirable rate. think by the cut of her
jib ste wll probably be remembered, and also
recorded, rs one Of the most extraordinary
hundreds Of years. BRADLEY.
Allegheny Observatory, July J., 1851
Capt. Gillie, Superintendent Of the United
States Naval Observatory, presented Secretary
Welles the following observations upon this
remarkable comet: :"
UNITED STATES NAVAL onsEnvAronr,
July 3, 1861.
EIR II have the honor to present to you
the observations made upon the remarkable
comet now visible in the northern portion Of
the heavens.
1t was fist noticed on the evening of the
S0th ultiIno ut 10i o'clock. At that time q
bal o1 clouds obscured the nucleus, and its
heightened coma Of pulsating light extending
for MI auroral beam. this opinion of it's ma
tu1e was apparently confirmed by number
Of luminous and yapory focui lying eastward
Of the meridian, and near the prime vertical
The following evening, at about the same hour
or little later, it was again remarked, aad
under somewhat similar circumstances but,
whilst the change Of place:was evident, there
Was no reason to suspect it celestial body.
At a later hour ite, character Was no longer
doubtful.
Last night the nuclens Of the comet was
near the small star Ursg Maj oris, from
which point the tail proceeded in two branch.
e. The first one, eighty cnryiag, towards
or at most 10 deg. In length. The other, east
ezn or main branch, was straight and narrow,
and passed in nearly vertical direction
closely parallel with the stars La,nda and kappa
D1accnis, nesr the latter Of which it Was the
most attenuatcd, md not more than Ia deg.
in width. Thence, spreading gradually, it
could be followed BY the eye to point In the
neighto1hood Of 6S aud u Herculis, or to q
distance Of some 80 deg. OF IS deg. from the
nucleus. During the night 1t seemed to move
slowly westward, finally enveloplng the two
stars Of Draco, mentioned above.
It's light was neither uniform nor constant.
For the first deg or 10 deg, from the nncle-
Us the tail waR remarkably brilliant, aud then
ratid1y diminished in intensity until reaching
it's narroWest point, beyond which tbs grada
ticn was almost inRenslble. The constancy
Of The light neac the nucleus WIS Interrupted
resembling those of the aurora, aud at these
times it Was remarked that the upper portion
Of the tail was perceptihly fainter, though this
may Eave been simply the optical effect Of
contrast.
Wien viewed with telescope o flow power
the nucleus appeared as small planetary disc
Of OILY few seconds diameter. From this
there emhnated towards the sun luminous
sector, or ian shaped head, terminated By q
well defined convex line. The matter pro-
ceedipg from the Ducleus toward the sun and
forming the head wills ut this line sharply re-
ptlled, and, falling back on either side, formed
the branches Of the tail The whole appear
anee OF this sector, at first brilliant aud we'll
defined, underwent various notifications as
the night progressed. When first observed it
WIS near1y symmetrical with respsct to the
comets axis. The eastern wing was perhaps
a little the longer Of the two. There was
daIk oval spot near the middle Of the fan aud
curved line Or lines, concentrIc with the outer
convex boundary, divided the mass into
upper and lower strata, each with u
cnsp on either side. Afterwards the
lines appeared broken, giving mots1ed ap-
pearance to the central zone Of the sector;
md, finally, tie western cnsps seemed to
break, and the fan shape WIS transformed into
g spiral, whcec centre was in the nucleus.
Meanwhile, during three hours of observation,
the dimensons OF the whole mass had incre2s-
ed to at least donble Of the original sza, while
:he outlines bad become so indistinct that 1t
was only with difficulty the general shape
could be recognized.
I snbjoin the following determination of the
ceme.'s place, as made by Mr. Ferguson vita
the equatorial
u; Time, Wash. R.A: Decl.
July z, l0h a5m. 1888 sh. 43m. 3 Sis X63i 12t Is
hr rrr ia tn A,s,-
Hcurly motion in +. A. kiss seconds in time.
IN Dccl. x67U seconds in arc.
I hnye the honor to be, very respectfully,
your obedient servsnt,
JIM GMLIss, Superintendent.
hon. GIDEON, WE1LEs, sec'y Navy.
The comet does not seem to have been noted
at Cambridge, at Albany or ut New York.
Sam Beswick offers through the New York
Etrnsng Post the following prediction In regard
to e. The Great Cemet,' as 1t is called:
VIII you please find place for the follow
irg original documents In relation to tho
"Enat ccmet' now visible In the heavens ?
Scientific men have NOT had an opportunity to
degree Of accuracy the movements Of this CO
leetial visitor. And until the elements of it's
mofion ore apprpxfm2ted, nothing satisfactory
can be said in relation to It's identity with the
cemetof 1864 and 1916 still; 1 have thought
It might be useful to present these original
discussions On its rcappearance at the present
time, as parts Of It's history. The comet now
visible, # It be the " great expected comet" !"
Is ene Of the mcst extraordinary on record,
and It's movements will be watched With the
most intense interest, and It's elements Of mo-
tien determined With great accuracy. For
obvious reasons I shall refrain from saying
anfshtng At present, and content myself with
Derely calling attention to the following docu-
ment&ry evidence Of its predicted re appear
ance " about the year 1s51-"
6AA BEsW1CE.
New York, July 9, 1851.
[From the Manchester Guardian Of May 4. 1850
Sir: Respecting the epochal return Of this
celebrated comeI, two predictions have been
presented through the public press. One, by
Mr. Hind, WAS gwen In the Astronomical N :
tees the othef,sby myself, wns given in your
Journal And now, after .an interval Of nearly
three years, the former has been given up By
Mr- Hind, and the latter adopted. a laborf.
Gus Investigation has decided In favor Of the
Tr&& hi