Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1868-09-04
The RncknI Comet.

The superintendent Of the Naval Oh
servatory at Washington announces that
on the morning Of August ID he observed
Encke's comet, which astronomers have
been about four weeks vainly endeavor-
ing TO descry. The comets right ascen.
sion was six hours fifty.nine minutes, and
declination eighty degrees and ftty-two
minutes It's pathway Is through Gemini
and Cancer, consultations visible In the
morning sky az this season The comet is
now observable between three q. m. and
daylight II will disappear In about ten
days, and then reappear In the latter part
Of September, when II can be seen with
the naked eye from nine p. m. until two
n. m.
Encke's comet belongs 10 the class
known as comets Of short period IL has
n curious history that is well worth trac.
ing The discovery Of the periodicity Of
Halley's comet led 20 further patient and
extended research in the planetary sys-
tenn; Lexel's comet appeared next In or
der, and was regarded as the first discov-
cred comet of short period. II returned
only once after it's first discovery, but the
careful search for 70 led 20 the discovery OF
another comet Of small period. In 1876,
Mecbain, French astronomer, detected q
nebulous object which, upon close exami.
nation, proved TO he telescope comet
II was again seen by Caroline Herschell
| in 1895. by Thulis In In 1905, and by Pons
| in 1918. In the latter year the comet re
mained in view 40 long that M. Encke, a
| Prussian astronomer, 80 far succeeded in
taking calculations as TO determine that
the orbit Of the comet must be elliptical,
and that It's period Of recurrence is about
three and quarter years. Enckes cal
culations were so assiduous and also so sue
cessful that by common consent the comet
was called by his name. He predicted Its
return in 1929, and II was witnessed That
year by one observer In New South
Wales In 1925 the comet was detected by
several independent observers. Since that
time there have been twelve returns of
the little visitor, every one Of which was
| predicted with the greatest accuracy. In
| 1885 this comet passed so near Mercury
as to insure the discovery that the mass of
that planet had been largely over-esti-
mated by astronomers, st H..t
Encke's comet, at its nearest point, Is
| 81 900, 600 miles, and at It's remotest point
877, 900, 600 miles, from the sun It's peri.
helion is between the sun and Mercury,
and It's aphelion Is between Jupiter and
the Asteroids. It's motion, like that of the
planets, Is from west to east, and ITS revo-
luticn Is completed in about 1910 days,
subject to variation which Is caused by
the disturbing influences of the planetary
masses near which II comes In It's eccentric
course. The comet is chiefly remarkable
for having revealed, as some astronomers
think, the existance of resisting medium
in the interplanetary space, although Her.
schell and others attribute the change and
the comets motion TO the gradual loss
of its TAIL which is seen only upon rare
occasions.
Astronomers have thus far only limit
ed knowledge Of comets and their courses
The scientific investigations of the past
hundred years have yielded no very per
manent and accurate information respect
ing these ETHEREAL visitors In Encke's
as in all other short-period comets, the
observed acceleration has led to the belle
that their movements are affected by some
resisting medium, the action of which will
cause them to fall into the sun, unless
they are disrupted altogether; theory
which seems not impossible, from the fact
of their having been less conspicuous al
each temperance The fact Is, however
that astronomical research among the
mysteries of the comets is almost Mt n stand
still. If the astronomy of the period is moi
painfully at fault, Il will prove competent
before many years are past of unfolding
more clearly and accurately the secrets oi
the planetary world which are now left
mostly to conjecture and speculation
Ne'o York World, august %.