Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1880-03-12
The Great Comet 1913.

The lClIowlcg extract from Pref. Peirce' y
ltcuro on comets and metcors Contains q do
scription OF the wonderful comet Of 1913, of
which Gould's c)met il supposed to be reap
pearaDcj:
About noon Ga the 2Sth OF February, 1915,
groups oil people 10 macy Of tho towns of New
Enelard, tspt claIly in Portland, Me-. collected
st the corprrs of the streets, gazing up towards
the sun. Protecting their eyes 10 tho shadows
OF the houses they saw brilliant chic! coso
TO tho sun. Such o marvellous spectacle had
never before been seen. A thoughtful sea
captain, MIR. Clnks, brought out bis scxtant,
and repeatedly measured tho distance OF tho
strange Gbjecs from tho limb Of the sun These
unique observations urc on rc)rd, aud, rub.
mite Il 10 rigid criticism, attest tho accuracy OF
the observer. 10 about week from this time
q wonderfully brilliant tail cf comet was seen
sklrting the hor;z)n soon after sunset and
reaching moro than ono third of tho way round
the tky. Ii vas now tail without head, as
1t was ct fist hcsd without tail; but they were
members Of tho same comet.
The best determination OF its path was 40.
compIshcd by tho distinguished astronomel-
Sears y. Walker. At its poriheou it passed
nearer the sun than suy known comet, with the
single exception Of that OF 1880 computed by
Sir lsOac Newton, and in tho discussion Of
which In tho Prinoipia 10 broaohcd the first
approx nation 10 tho true theory Of toe come.
tary tail. These two ,Enets approached 50 c'ose
to the sun that it would seem quito possible that
they toucEea Its surface, CT, at LEAST, swept 10
nearer ttan the solar corOpa. 1t would not have
bean m absurd hypothesis that they wcro
cIacted from tho sun at the time Of penetration,
had 1t not been fer the fact tha. the comet of
1850 Has seen on lis way down to tho SUD, and
Tor the remarkable phenomcnon s.hi9h We are
pbcut 80 describe c0Hcorrlrg tho olmct Of 1913.
l. may be claimed cs not impossible hypothe-
sls mat each OF these comets was al some former
timo The product OF solar eruption in sCcerdarc,
With Buitfou's theory Of tho origin OF oomots.
Ii would only Involve q iorco which wou!d
d9ublo tho greatest velocity given to the solar
field ct hydrogen.
but jus cr Interpretation OF The phcnome.
con, sDd OGe which avaids tho necessity Of an
extrsveesul volcanic ac:i0n, is to be- fcuod 10
tho relation between the camats and tho me,e
ors. L. is Simply the 81 ash OF tho falling ne
lcOr5 10 about 90 hour aud half the c,nct
CT 1878 like that Of 1850. went round lhe .uu
from olo side t. tho other What would hsvo
bec)mo OF the tail, which wss reechiog out
about 100000 Geo Of miles from the son TO the
Garth 4 ortiz! There have been these who hava
actually adopted tho iGcrcdipIo, may say tho
impossible, hypothesis that mo iaii rotated
through this immense circuit. developing con-
'TlIuSal fore; which al tho uliiei bowers Of
The universe could cot hsvn sustained. Mel
Tho comet practically LETT lis tail behind il, and
bcgau to PrJw Dew tail as it rcceded from the
sur.
There wero Tins Two tails nearly side be-
side. The new tail was distinguished because
it commenced al tho head of the comet, whero
AZ the old deserted tail began without any head
ut some distance from the nucleus, aud extend.
cd further from tho Fun than tho new TAIL
That such should be the phenomena of this
comet was suggested By a eoomctcr without
knowing that it had been actually Observed Ii
was az vcrltablc and honest prcdic ion rs If it
had boco made previous TO tho observation. A
double tall was observed on tho frs. four rights
alter the comets appearance at MONDAY. The
visible separation Of the two tails only lasted for
few days. because tho earth passed almost at
oio, into tho plane of the comets orbit, 80 that
one tail eclipsed the Other. ''-Boston Adver-
ttScr.