National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-03-25
sscoMETS AND METEORS. :

sssCOMETS AND METEORS. .
11OEEss0R PROCfOR's SECOND FEC
fURE Last EYENLSG.
a BRiLiIANr DISCOURSE ON TEE CoMEIi
-rHr FORMATION AND NATURE OF THooH
arnANoH RODIEs-METEORIC SHOWERS
rnrrr CAUSE AND EFFECT-THE SUMS
INFLUENCE ON THE AETEoRs.
Prof R. A. Proctor, r. R. g., vas greeted las
nj. ~ in his second lecture on ths " Comet
scd Netsorsn BY . large audience, couposst
principally Of the scientific aad literary people o
he capital. The lecture was illustrated By dia
srsns and pictures, and also BY photographs
which were thrown In . brilliant and effective
manner upon eanvss BY m oxy-hydrogeu stsreop
tieon. After graceful Introduction Of the lee
tarer by Prof. Henry, he treated his subject u
follows
Tbs subject have to deal with tonight 4
really ut subject for twelve lectures. 1t Is full
81 mysteries, and full also Of great discoveries
which have recently besn made. To deal with II
IN one lecture IL . somewhat ambitions attempt
We have, to begin with, the great wonder that
comets and metsors should In any way be asso
eaased, they are 20 unlike each other. Cometi
are very large bodies, much exceeding the sun b
magnitude and the largest Of the stars, and hav
ing that mysterious faculty that they possess q
coming from fathomless depths Of space, aftsa
Journeys which must have lasted over millions o.
years rushing up toward the sun, passing Gloss
around him, and then passing away with NO hint
~ to what depths Of space they will ny TO- 1t ii
astrange fact that We should have to assoclat,
with bodies like netsofs, % small in dimension
that child could in many cases carry them
bodies 30 large that our sun sinks into insignih
sanes In comparison with them.
fn ooNET's COURSE KxrLAINEp BIT GRAVITY.
Nov let ~ pass to the facts most important in
this matter. Again, remind you that Am
obliged 70 leave out the faots dealt with In our
fsxt-books Of astronomy, to take the more strik.
ing facts associated with the views taken By
astronomers Of the present day. To begin With
eomets We have In the first place the fact that
comets come from outer spaes, and sftsr trsvslins
almost directly toward the sun for . long period
eftms, cirals around him, and pass away again
Into the depths Of space. There IL . fact which
beems ct first to remove them from all the ordi.
nary laws Of motion, certainly all the laws pre-
sentsd BY the planetary system; but Il was pre-
ciSey in that, especially, that comets iirst gave
astronomer . proof that there was no resisting
The truth Of the law Of gravity.
Newton tock the comet Of 1850, and having
found Ssf It was travelling on . psraoonc course
bsttf described a an exceedingly long oyal-wss
abb to say that that comet would follow such
"a such . course, although it orbit was Of IN
entirely different nature from the planets, and
continually changing day BY day. Yet he said:
~ will follow that body and tell precisely where
Il will co." and IL was this mastery Of Newton
over the laws Of celestial motion that first con-
WINGED astronomers Of the truth Of the laws Of
gravity. The comet came and followed the pre-
ciss path that Newton suggested. Let NJ see how
the comet moved. It came travelling up toward
tie sun, seeming to move directly toward him,
marked among all comets by the directncss Of It's
path toward the sun. When It was within sixth
s.-t Of the suns diameter It circled around him
md then psissa away w track precisely Like
that on which 1t had arrived. -s,-
Like all other comets Of distinction It had .
lsag tail, and ss 1t approached the sun that tall
extended, according to the known laws Of comets,
sway from the sun, and was thus carried behind
the comet; but ~ the comet passed around the
sun-and passed around it In few hours-when
It was seen on the other side, long tall can
lot call Il the same tail-a long tall q, ooo, 900
miles in extent was seen no longer carried behind
the comet but travelling now In front Of It; and In
the day or two that that comet was lost sight Of.
that long tail was thrown ont by the retreating
comet Now that comet had taken four weeks in
approaching the sun over distance Of %, 900 900
mliet- tuouSu ~ sI1rtiuB. liz bciOCity
with which 1t had arrived; but in less than four
days that wondrous tail 90 900 miles long, was
thrown cut In front Of the body.
COMET OF 1880
There is fact which either shows rs We have
TO deal, as to o comets tail, with matter which
has not been formed in reality, but Is some way
to become apparent to us, or else We have to deal
with . force incomparably greater than gravity.
This repulsive force Of the sun seems incompara-
a. Ah.k ~ -
led that comet distance Of 90 o00, 900 miles
I'm four weeks, and 1t threw out its tail in four
days There is the frst evidence Of this mighty
Tepulsive force Of the sun. The comet came %
close to the SUM- distance only the looth part
Of that which separates our earth from the sun
that the heat to which 1t was exposed was Is, 600
times greater than the heat endured by our earth.
There, then, was a heat which We might very
we'll Imagine would destroy the very substance Of
would, under such . heat be evaporized. Newton
assigned path to the comet Of 1850, but was not
able &c assign period to It.
He was not able to say for how long . time It
would pass away before 1t returned; but in the
case Of Halley's comet, DR.. HALEY not only cal
eulated the path the comet would follow, but he
looked through the annals Of astronomy to see II
there were any comets travelling on the same
psth. He found one I'm the year 1907, and another
tuc year loo1s Bou uOtlcAuk bu8t t0o luGorv1l
from 1907 TO 1882 was not very different from the
interval between 1881 and leo7-7e years about-hs
concluded that the comet had period Of 70 yssrs,
and he boldly presented the prediction that In the
year 1853 that comet would return to our neigh
borhood. The prediction was an sxceedingly bold
one, and 1t was the first time an astronomer had
ever ventured to say comet would follow .
certain path ut any given time; and there vas
this interesting Circumstance about 1t, that when
49,
since have passed away. ..s ....r ....
SUCCESSFUL PREDICTION or COMETS RAP
PKARANCE.
When l7S9 came astronomers went over the cal
culat;on made by Dr. HALEY, and they found,
from their greater mathematical experience, how
that comet might be dealt with. They were able
to tell the very month. and even predict the day.
They sid spon April Is, l7so, with limit Of
error Of ene month, this comet would come Jack
to fts point Of nearest approach to the sun. It
actually returned, and made IT. nearest lpproaeh
to the sun ON March Il, l7se, or just within the
limits Of error. They did not know at that time
that the planets Uranus or Neptune existed, and
these had exerted their influence On that comet
But when the return year 1s3s was sppfoaeh-
Ing astronomers had learned about Uranus,
though Neptune had not besn discovered, and
also how to deal much more perfectly with the
processes OF mathematical analysis involved In
calculating the course Of celestial bodies; and
they said this comet would return In November,
ASS and they put the dates between November
Il and November 10. A German astronomer
Rosenbsrger, gave the exact date - November
IL The exact date on which the comet did mako
its nearest approach to the sun was on November
Il and certain strange facts were noticed. Al Il
approached the sun It presented very remark
able head, which you recognise here, (picturs
shOwD) with creScsntic ridge Of brightness.
COMET or 1885.
Z seemed q Z i ys forced from side TO side By
acne disturbing force exsrted By the sun. That
comet passed around the sun, made its nearest
approach, and came around on the other side,
passing southwark. Therefore It was observed
b. astrononsrs Of the southern hemisphere that,
instead Of presspting tho aPpeEDpee y had yhsn
h approached tie Sil, Il sbbssfsd not only W.T.
put tail, but even without any hesd. r EPpssred
ste small bright speck, LII the small central
part within tbst @sscsnr, which you - here.
E9thins Sstinguished that comet from star.
except the met that 1t moving slowly over the
heavens, and % days passed on It increased, %
that In seventeen dsys It Increased seventy times
IN size It seemed - II It were trying 70 develop
. long tail, bat It passed away before . tail haA