The weekly Butte record., 1861-09-07
The Mystery of Comets Tails.

( Va 0S~~SsS ~N~~~S'
There is nothing in nature more mysterious
than the growth and motion of the trains Of
comets. When a comet is first discovered by
a telescope it generally has no tail, appearing
like a faint star seen through a haze. As it
approaches the sun the tail is developed, start
ing out on the side next the sun, but being
Immediately turned back, as if it were fame
acted on by powerful blast coming from the
sun. The nucleus or head of the comet is
matter, though lighter than the thinnest fog,
but the tail is either not matter at all, or it is
acted on by forces which do not manifest
themselves on this Garth. If the train were
simply matter, acted upon by gravitation, it
would follow the head in its track around the
sun, consequently bending, as the head sweeps
around the part of its orbit nearest the sun,
into nearly a semicrcular curve. Instead Of
this, the train always points from the sun,
swinging around as the stream of light from a
lantern in the fog does when the lantern is
turned. As the trains are sometimes of such
length that they would reach from the sun to
the earth, and as the comet when nearest the
sun moves through many degrees of its orbit
in few hours, the end of the train is swept
around with velocity which forbids the belief
of its being matter possessed with the property
of inertia.
The velocity, too, with which the tail is shot
forth is irreconciable with the idea of its being
subject to the law of inertia. The tail of the
great comet of 1850, Immediately after its
perihelian passage, was found by Newton to
have been no less than sixty millions of miles
in length, and TO have occupied only two days
in its emission from the comets body.
One of the most singular phenomena of
comets tails is the violent commotion observed
in them. Flames stream forth from the nucle-
US in fan shaped and various other and swiftly
changing forms, toward the sun at first, but
bending quickly back as if encountered by a
furious blast, and then streaming away millions
of miles into the sky. This may be owing to
the intense heat to which they are exposed
from their proximity to the sun. The great
comet of 1S43 approached the sun within
about a fifth part of the suns radius. Sir
John Herschel calculates that at this distance
the heat of the sun would be Al ,042 times
greater than it is at this earth, and at least
2415 times greater than the heat in the focus
of Parker's great lens, which melted cornelian,
agate and rock crystal.
Usually, as the comet moves away from the
sun, the train which it is now pushing partly
before it, gradually diminsbes till it disappears
altogether. Sometimes, however, the train is
obliterated in the vicinity of the sun, the comet
emerging from the suns light without any tail
whatever, At other times the tail is the
longest just after the periheion passage +; al
others there are two or three or more tails
branching out like fan. They are frequently
curved like Donati's in 1858, and exhibit a
great variety Of singular phenomena, which
are an incomprehensible mystery to the stu
dents Of astronomy.
At about the same time, Bissel and Prof
Pierce, each independently Of the other offered
the suggestion that the trains of comets may
be electricity. Perhaps they are simply light
the suns rays, in their passage through the
unknown substance Of the nucleus, may ac-
quire the power-analogous to polarization
of producing the vibra tions which constitute
light.
Thn hooI IL Of fInn III
formed of material substance, as they are acted
on by gravitation, and reflect the suns light,
but this substance is generally of extreme ten
uity. Stars Of the smallest magnitude have
been seen through the densest portion of the
head, and, in the language of Sir John Her
schel, "The most unsubstantial clouds which
float in the highest regions of our atmosphere
must be looked upon as dense and massive bod
les compared with the flmy and all but spirit
ual texture Of the comet" In some, however,
a very minute steller point has been seen,
Indicating the existence of solid body.
Among the mysterious phenomena presented
by the head, is its diminution in size as ap-
proaches the sun, and its rexpansion during its
! retreat 1t also throws off nebulous envelopes
one after another, during the formation Of the
train, in very curious manner.
Many of the comets move in elliptical orbits,
and continue to revolve around the sun. But
the orbits of few have been ascertained to be
hyperbolas, and those consequently will never
return. Light ethereal volumes of vapor,
below, or on either hand, with constantly ac-
celebrating velocity, rush in strange turmoil
around the sun, and then move more and more
slowly away on their solitary courses into the
depths of space.
! WHAT Is RED TAPE?-" Red tape" is an
English expression, originated by Carlyle, and
made popular by Dickens, designed to repre-
sent the ceremOnious delays and official for
malties characteristic of the British Govern
ment routine. 1t is similarly used in this
country to ridicule the tardness with which
everything is effected By the formation of
government officials.