Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-08-03
Encke's Cornet-Ifs Expected AP
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The Providence Journal says -
"Encke's comet is due, and the star
salgazers are turning their telescopes to the
skies sin the hope of discovering the
presence Of The, expected visitor. 1t is
interesting chiefly for, performing its
revolution within the boundaries of the
solar system for, the comparatively short
period within which its revolution takes:
aplace, and for the reason that we know
more about it than we do of those vast
n ETHEREAL creations, which visit our sys-
~ tenn and then run off into space. 81
sEncke's comet, although it was really
s9ldiscovsred by Mr.. Ponson ON its return
in 1918, was seen four times before it's
identity was determined. 1t was first
detected by a French adiscoverer in
- - I7S6, then by Miss Caroline Herschel
Cd in 1885, again by q Frenchman in 1905,
. and lastly by NJ. Pons, in 1876. As
81 tronomers began to mark the similarity
=, Of the crusts, of the four comets, and M.
fgoEncke by. combining the observations
bscthat had been made, demonstrated that
;1ocit was neiand the same comet which had
., . appeared at these different times. Encke
bn then, predicted its return in 1922 the
10 position: which it would occupy among
: ] tile stars, and also that it would only be
19l 59l seen, iii the southern hemisphere. u He
5onhad the happiness of finding his predic=i
IS tions1verifed by the observations of an
y astronomer at New South Wales.Sin
81 = this time, there have been thirteen re-
sg turns Of this eccentric visitor to its per-
ihelion,a every one of which has been
DG predicted with the greatest accuracy. Is
eIlipse, at an angle Of thirteen degrees
plane of the earth's orbit. AT its
. sneafest'point it is 31,00o,0o miles, and
sn at its most remote point it is 100000
4si miles from the SUM- Its perihelion is be-
6 tween the sun and Mercury, and its
pe9 aphelion is between Jupiter and the As8
Iaq 5teroids.a It's motion, like that of the
d planets, is from west, to east, and its rev.
. olution is completed in about 1910 days,
C lsubie to a.variation which is caused by
the disturbing influences Of the planet
airy masses near which it comes in its
q o eccentric course. a 80 -Io,- lie
'Encke's comet is by no means a re-
70 narkabfe oneI 1t is a telescopic comet,
and consists Of a circular patch of neb-
m suIous light, a few minutes Of an arc in
diameter, and somewhat condensed to-
; ward the centre. Though usually only
= visible through a telescopes, it has been
distinctly seen by the naked eye. Such
rs wasfits appearance; in 1928, when it was
~ in favorable condition for observation,
q and its light was equivalent to that of a
star of the fifth magnitude: At com
mon times there is no trace of a tail;
but on rare occasions a slight one has
L :. I c., <>f
n light extending from the comet towards
the sun and again with second append
age opposite the first. $50 tH-
1"During July the comet rises half an
a, hour after midnight, and on the 10th of
the month the place was midway be-
tween the Pleiades and Iota Aurigae,
and on the 26th it is between Iota
Aufigae and Beta Tauri. Astronomers
all over the, world are sweeping care
fully its track with their telescopes