The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-07-18

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nesorls, i seemed daily 70 expand in bulk as
Va surveyed Is flmy outlines. Is aAximum
velocity was nearly 10000 miles On hour.
exceeding the speed o. ne planet Mercury
THIS was q is perihelion point Fily.swo
millions Of miles seems 70 have beenihe meas
pre- of is distance from Is October ii, or
some 1000 600 miles nearer 10 The earthihan
i approached the sun The difference he-
tween its npheIion and il pefihelion velocity
seesas 70 be the difference between aso and
$500 miles an hour. The difference be-
tween is femotast and is nearest solar dis
lance Is II. IA. oOo. 900. or nearly eight times
the distance Of the planet Uranus. This i'm.
mense reach, however. would hardly carry Il
70 another system, when the nearest Fixed rtar
i billions Of leagues from u.s. Its period q
orbital revelation Is about twenty or twenty.
Ave centuries The size Of ils nncleas varied as
well Is ils speed. That ranged from 5000
miles diameter when about 40, o0e, 600 miles
from Us. and only 900 miles When less than
one-shird that distance. The intensity Of lis
light was deeper Al its splaller phase. That
nucleus evolved number Of luminous ensel
cpes, which in aggregate formed beautiful
amphithestre 70 the spectator At the Cam.
bridge refracior. To smaller glasses the
length shrunk TO lo,000.0 900. and the breadth
narrowed to / 800, COO miles. Faint stream.
ers also dartcd from or flashed forth occas.
ionally at an uncomfortable rate Of velocity,
sometimes TO the rcmoieness Of $1,000, 600
miles. F
The ''War Comet Of 1851 sprane 50 sud.
denly upon the people in tits latitude, and
with such unexampled brilliancy and magni.
tudc, as TO astonish our scientific men and
Tighten the timid. The civil war, then just
inaagurated, must have something to do with
1t, Of course. But unheralded and unlimited
il burst forth with all its heavenly beauty.
The opinion generally expressed was that il
was not equal to Donati's comet, while many
considered il the same one on its return, and
ridieuled TIE idea Of its not being seen since
1865. All sarmises were, however, subse-
quently set Ut rest BY the discovery that il was
Thatcher's Comet, discovered on the 4th Of
April, 1861, al Mr.. Rutherford's observatory,
IN New York, BY Professor A. +. Thatcher.
According 70 a report made at the Cambridge
Observatory July 5, 1861 the comet appears
to have passed its ascending node between
the 2sth and 2sth Of june N Longitude 97e
degrees, the longitude Of the earth then being
277. The inclination Of rs orbit 10 that of the
earth was SO degrees. or yery nearly the ereat.
est possible. On the 2sth Of June he dis
tance Of the earth from the head Of the comet
appears to have been only abou. 1900. 900
miles, and TINT from the tail considerably less.
The comet sent on its envelopes once day,
or four or Eve times these eccentric arches
were conglomeraie, and formed a hood, halo
or brilliant bow over the nucleus. Indeed,
the halo appeared larger than . semicircle,
even nearer the sweep Of an entire circle.
II certainly closed in Until the dark axis pre-
vented It's further penetration or progress to-
ward the formation Of a whole periphery. On
the 10th Of October its train extended over
10000 900 miles ia length, and exhibited
spread Of 10000 ,0o0in width. Both these
dimensions varied two minutes or two one
half minutes, but with good glass il was
readily recognized. Referring to this comet
Boston paper remarked that, although it
had been far Inferior in brilliancy to that Of
the previous year, or TO the eyer-memorable |
one OF Donati In 1858, yet il was large one
compared with others.
Only one in six Of the comets which are
observed ever become visible to the naked
eye, and during the present century not more |
than half a dozen have been larger than Tut. |
ties. This comet attracted good deal Of
attention from European astronomers
The Comet Of 1864 was 6rst observed i,
Bishop' Observatory, Twiekenham, England. |
on the 9Th Of July, 1884, By Prof. j. r. Hind.
On the 30 tn il was distinctly visible to the pa.
ked eye in the constellation Taurus, and be-
came each night more copsp;cpons ol;ect
its approac to the earth being very rapid. |
The real diameter Of the nebulosity surround.
ing the nucleus was upward Of Il0, 900 miles.
We have no account of this comet being seen
in this part Of the world.
The Come Of 1868, known as Brorsen's,
was seen at Vassar College Observatory on
the evening Of the 10th Of April, 1863 Its
approximate position was right ascension Oh.
Aim. declination about 24deg. 45m. Itsould
be seen with an instrument Of low power. an
pearing Ike hay star, just skirting the
northern border Of the beautiful group Of the