Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1861-07-18

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Prof. Bond, of the Cambridge
(Mas:.) Observatory, has ascerta-
insd the elements oil the orb, Of
the comet now on visi, 20 this
50 ton OF the universe, with suf-
hcient accuracy 20 he confiden,
TINT tits no. the comet Of "Charles
the Fifth" or "any other man."
But though enough i, known to
make the astronomers sure OF
rha, i, is yor, they haven't learn
ed enough yet 10 he sure what
I.,s They don, know or a,
least they haven, yet told the
public, where /, is going, what II
orbit IS, when j. will come back
n whether II may no, stay away
forever. Iss distance from the
earth on the 5.h was aboni %, OUO,
900 of miles. and il reached rs
psrIhelIon, OIL the llth oil June
On The 2S,h Of June the Earth
was very close 20 IFS tail, II hav
me crossed our orbit but a day IN
advance of our arrival :, the point
oicrossing. 1.-THE lazy old planet
had only hurried up day or two
We should have rolled rlgh.
through the tail of il, and found
by experiment what effect comet
airy matter would have had on the
atmosphere. The tail is the lon
gcs. recorded in astronomlca!
history, icing loo degrees accor.
ding TO Prof. Bend. That OF Is
80 was ONLY 81 degrees, but es,l-
mated IN miles az l57, 900, 600.
But a comets tail is very Ike
one of Sylvanus Cobb's stories,
very long, ard wonderfully trltl
Ing. S,srs so small the naked
eye cannot detect them at all, can
be seen with telescope through a
comets tall $4,000 miles in
thickness. Matter SO exceeding
ly subtle would probably do no
great harm 10 the earth ii it
should strike Il. Many astrono-
mers doubt seriously If we should
know Il II 4 conet should pitch
in 10 us head.oremost. That
Of 1890 passed so close TO us that
fits mass had been equal to that
of the earth il would have drawn
us SO far out of our orbit as 10
lengthen our year two hours and
a half, bu, il made no impression
aiall. Whether the nucleus Of a
comet is composed of the same
matter as the tail, or whether
there is any soldlty about it or
not, IS a matter OF conjecture.
Some astronomers believe that
the nucleus, which is ALWAYS very
small in proportion to the size II
presents 20 the eve, is as solid as
the earth, and that OF Dnnatl's
comet which appeared in the fall
Of 1888, is asserted to have TO pos
:sssed the density of cast iron,
while others contend that it is all
gas. Opinion seems now 10 in.
cline 70 the theory Of solIdIty, as
anything 50 rare as gaseous bo.
6y could hartley endure the in.
conceivable heat OF the sun in lis
perhelion passage. The comet
Of 1884 passed within 100000
miles OF the sun, and II received
Z degree OF heat equal 10 1900
times that of melted iron, 0,000,-
900 degrees of Fahrenheit -
Donatl's comet, II Is calculated
il will return IN the year 3999
and tha: OF 1911 in 4Sll, but a.
there wont many of Us be alive
10 see them At that time we neeC
not urge our readers 10 make ;
memorandum OF the dates
Nothing is Yet known ofthe pres
ent come, except that II has neve
been here before, and that tht
light Of il. which will afec
photographic Preparations, i
net more than one thousandti
part as brilliant as that Of a sta
ofth. third magnitude, though a
the star, it looked hall as BIC 4