Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-07-23
From the Charleston Courier.


| In our article Of the 9Th instant, we gave
such information with regard to the Comel
| then visible, (tbe second Comet of the cur
rent year, as we had been able to obtain al
that date. promising to give more accurate
accounts at later period, with corrections
of any errors then committed This prom
Use we proceed to fulfill.
We have stated in former COMMUNICATION
that not les than three Observations, separated
| by certain intervals of time. are required 10
obtain the elements of the orbit OF newly
| discovered Comet or Planet. Supposing the
| observations made with the greatest accura-
CIV the intervals between them may be small
"a a single day each, but ii from the charac-
+ ter of the instruments used, or from other
causes. a moderate approximation only TO
precision can be expected in the observations.
the intervals must be somewhat longer. We
have used as the basis of our computations
of the elements, our observation on the
nights of the Sd. 7th and 11th instants- at
intervals of four days each These have fur
nished the following:
ELEMENTS OF ORBIT OF COMET II, 1861.
Longitude of Node. .279d. lin. 23s
Inclination of Orbit. IS &c. rs
Angle between Perihelion and Node.20.2S 90
Perihelion distance. O. $40
Time of passing Perihelion, June 10th, 5h
46m. P. NJ, Motion direct.
WIN tntet tletnenss We can now give
some reliable account of the past and future
course of the Comet, at least within the lin
its of a couple of months before and after
the time OF passage of the Perihelion; we
can also correct any errors into which We
may have fallen in our first rough estimate.
The Longitude of the node, as given in
the Elements, is the Heliocentric Longitude,
or Longitude seen from the Sun. measured
from the vernal equinox. The Comet pass
ed the node, that is the ascending node, pass
ing from the South to the North side of the
Earth's orbit, on June %, lob. Sim. p. NJ.
and the Comets Heliocentric Longitude,
therefore. was the same as that OF the node,
270 deg. III min. The Heliocentric Longi-
tude OF the Earth at the came time was 277
deg. 08 min., and as the Earth moves in its
orbit little less than degree per day, the
Comet passed the node line only taco days be-
fore the Earth passed the same line. The
distance between two orbits on that line was
about ten millions of miles, and as the length
of the Comets train was over fifteen millions
of miles, The tram must, on Ffiday the 2Slh haze
s'cert through the uay portion of the Earth's orbit
tctach the latter traUesed Sunday The S0h June.
The train passed within three millions of miles
Of the Earth, though the nucleus, or head of
the Comet itself, did not pass as near Is we
stated in our first estimate, being. when near
est. nine or ten millions of miles distant.
As the Perihelion is not far from the node.
only 2O1 degrees, the Comets orbit is divided
nearly symmetrically by the plane of the
ecliptic, and as the Earth and Comet reached
the node line so nearly together, the path
through the heavens, as seen from the Earth
South of the ecliptic, is nearly the counter
part of that traversed since it has come into
view North of the ecliptic, and we may infer
the former tOlerably we'll from the latter.
The Comet must have appeared in the South
ern region of the heavens, not far from the
Southern extremity of the constellation
Efidanus, then slowly changing its place,
moved Northwards through the Southern
part of that constellation, and traversing
with increasing speed the Northern portion
Of it. Then entering the constellation of
Orion, it must have swiftly cOursed through
il, and crossed the ecliptic on the 2Sth June,
in geocentric longitude 80 deg, about Is
deg. to the right of the Sun. Up to this time
it had been invisible to rs in the Northern
hemisphere, as it was above the horizon only
during daylight. and approaching the Sun.
On Friday, the 18th, the tail must have been
visible in the morning inst before twilight,
and on the 18th both the head and train must
have been visible about the same time in the
morning, but We cannot learn that it had
been seen at that hour on that day. On Sat
urday, the Both. il must have been seen still
more readily in the morning, and as the
Comets right ascension was then the same as
the Suns, it could have been seen equally
well in the evening twilight or just after
The tail was seen, we are told. but not the
head. On Monday evening it attracted gen.
eral attention, and was really a superb sight.
1t has since passed through the Lynx and
Great Bear, rapidly diminishing in brilliancy
as it retrested from the Earth and Sun, but
is yet distinctly visible to the unaided eye, in
spite of the moonlight. Its motion will now
be slow, and it will be lost to sight in the
region between Draco and the head of Bootes,
occupied in modern maps by the cOnstella-
ton OF the Mural Quadrant
When We can get news from DR.. Moesta at
Santiago, Chill, or from the Astronomers of
the Cape of Good Hope, we will doubtless
have an account of its appearance to observ-
ers in the Southern Hemisphere. Following
it from its first appearance, they probably
carefully watched its passage through the
Perihelion and node, after which they would
lose sight of it in the Suns rays, or possibly
before the passage of the node.
The orbit of this Comet is unlike any other
on record, and is not the Comet Of Charles the
Fifth, as will be obvious TO any one who will
compare their orbits. or cast their eyes for
moment on model exhibiting the two orbits.
1t is simply impossible for Comet moving in
the orbit of the Comet of Charles the Fifth TO
be seen from the earth during the months of
June and July in the region in which the
Comet now is. L. K. u.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON,