Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-08-27
COMET @.
Rapid pisappsarsnce of the Celestial
PbsnomeEpp.t a.

kne6OmeEOC.
Ooers glasses sud telescopes have
hsen sweeping tie heavens for weeks
nasf in search OF the comet known rs G.
Az times Il has been distinctly visible 10
the naked eye, but the view was CON-
parstiyeiy 50 unsatisfactory tuat recourse
was mad 10 glasses.
The last discovered comet, called by
xay of distinction from the two others
discovered within the year, Comet Z, Is
now visible to the eye without the aiu
OF lenses, although rendered more inIel;
esting by the use OF a telescope or goou
opera glass. This celestial visitor Is not
40 conspicuous, and hence not so st''ac.
tive az its immediate predecessor, Comt |
p that was a few weeks since visible IN
sbout the same quarter OF the heavens,
The observer, II favorab!y situated anu
out of the envelopinS smoke Oh 'he cry;
NAV see il as early as ':So r. ", an
iron that time on st almost any liine Vi
niyht Its position tonight VIII De
sbont in a line drawn from the ROAR
star through the star iornIDe .,.as ~. -
the lower corner oil the big Dppel, an.
about as far from the latter as tna' -
Instant from the Polar or Norm Stai.
At first its tail is somewhat lnoistinS.
m the unassisted eye, but once caught
and located no difficulty is felt IN DIS
t;nonisbing it. The tail points nearly
narnendicnlarly upwards, and hence
ewav from the sun, and when examined
Nth GOOD lenses seems like luminous
haze of nearlyi uniform brightness
,hronohout It's whole extent, clearly ue-
fined st the edges, but fading gradually
al the ton into the star-lit azure OF the
seeming sky. 1t was at the period oil its
greatest brightness on the FIST INST, anu
will slowly fade with increasing u's ,.
lance during the coming week until II
becomes invisible to the naked eye.
During the last three or TOUR evenings
a good opera glass has been suihcient 10
fp1nish accurate studies OF its leading
features. The center, when thus exam-
ined with a low magnifying power, ap-
nesrs exceedingly uniform in its consti:
tntion. and the surrounding sphere oil
IiUht il beautifully defined and exact IN
its outlines, the tail springing up from
the luminous central mass with sheai'
| ike distinctness at the base. Neither
the central mass HOi NhO He.
presents any Of those extraordinary as
meets and alterations OF form which rem
dered the June comet a body OF surpass'
inc optical as well as physical interest
now like a blazing bird suspended IN the
heavens. now divided by sharply DE
fined band into two bodies, apparently
and more nearly an exact representation
of Donata's comet with its varied anu
shifting phases. - l.
The new comet, which will be de-
scribed in the annals OF astronomy as
Strawberries, passed its perihelion some
DAYS ago, and attained its highest bright
ness on Saturday and Sunday last, two
or three days after beginning It's Jour
new into the distant spaces oil the uni
verse. Within the next two or three
DAYS there will be perceptibie diminu
ton of its light, aud within the next SIX
or seven days its disappearance save
with the assistance OF the telescope, VIII
probably be complete to the average
eve. Those who wish to obtain q
glimpse OF il, therefore, without the aio
OF more powerful instruments than an
ordinary opera or field glass must avail
themselves of the first clear evening. It's
perihelion having been passed Augus'
IS 4:l2 Washington mean time, and the
climax OF brightness, according to mar
ward College computation, following the
passage ofthe perihelion by two or three
| DAYS.