The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-07-13
The New Comet.

at Albany, DeHe'es .h"' wy ~" S,,
is the same as the one seen py Or. Goulo
in South America on the LIST OF June.
This statement he bases on careful con-
eideration of the rates and direction OF.
motion since the comet has been visible.
From computations made at the Dudley
observatory the comet was nearest the
earth on June 10th, assed its perihelion
ON June 23d, and is low winging Its
wav through space in direction dag
onally away from the earth, from which
it is receding at the rate of 100000
miles day. It's distance from us is now
about 100000 miles, and that is TO-,
900 900 greater than its distance on June
10Th. The comet was 100000 miles
from the sun at its perihelion, or nearest
point. By the end of July we may ex-
pect that it will have only one-quarter
of its present brightness.
Tuesday night, June 2Sth, was clear,
and the fiery visitor stretched out across
the heavens nearly forty degrees, and the
tail spread out into two well-defned
branches, enveloping the north star in a
food of milky light. The eastward
branch ran up, passing about two and
a-half degrees east of the north star and
shooting up towards the zenith. This
stretch was followed for fully forty de-
grees, then the other branch shot up on
the west for at least thirty five degrees,
being about five degrees astronomically
southwest of the Pole star. AS seen
through the thirteen inch refractor, the
general appearance was that of broad
fan of ostrich piumes, the handle being
directed away from the sun. This
handle is represented by the nucleus,
which is seven seconds in diameter. If
we suppose. the distance of the comet
from the earth to be 45,00O,00O miles,
which is presumably near the truth, the
diameter of the nucleus would be l 800
miles; in other words three-quarters the
size of that of the moon. The coma, or
bright envelope which surrounds the nu-
cleus in a semi-circular form, is eighty
seconds in diameter. This is that part
of the comet which, when seen by the
naked eye, gives the appearance of the
head. The nucleus proper appears dis
tinctly visible in the refractor, but can
not be seen at all by the naked eye.
Another interesting feature about this
comet is the change that its appearance
undergoes at different hours of the night
In the evening, about 9 o'clock, it is il
the northwest, and its long tail seems tc
lean to the east, still pointing, however
to the Pole. Before midnight it is righ
under the north star, and its tail shoot.
straight upward. In the morning hours
1T is seen blazing in the northeast, and the
tail slopes to the westward All the time
however, the tail is toward the Pole star
and the head is toward the sun. Th
changes of position and direction are, @
course, caused by the earth's rotation
The comet goes down in the West anC
comes up in the East like any other ce
lestiat object, only, being so near the Poll
star, 1T does not go out of sight at all, Blu
is visible all night, like the constellation
OF the Great Bear. But, although tn,
explanation is so easy, the fact that the
comet is seen at night slofing in one di
rectlon and IN the morning in another
has caused good deal of confusion.
Prof. Draper has succeeded in taking
photographs of the newcomer very un.
usual thing in picture-making.
A writer in THE Tribune says it wont
answer for this generation to "put on
airs about such phenomena, for as fal
back as 81 B. c., Diodorus Siculus men.
toned comet (Which "presaged" the
destruction OF the cities Helix and Buris'
whose tail reached one-third way across
the heavens. In 1874 B. @. came one that
was. ten times greater than the sun. The
birth of Mithridates was the occasion fol
the appearing OF another extraordinary
comet, and soon after the assassination O
Caesar his ghost shone over Rome, so the
poets Of the Golden Age wrote, in comet
that was visible by day as well as by
night. Then there was one in HOG A. D
with small head, but tail that rivallec
the rays of the monday sun in bright
ness; and in 1854 the death of Pope Ur
ban | Y was heralded by comet with 6
tail 1902 long, mentioned by Chinese az
well as European historians. In 14OE
two remarkable comets appeared, and il
1850, at the time of the capture of Con
stantinople by the Turks, there doomed
up another SO big and so frightful that
Pope Calixtus II issued bull against it
and all pious folk added to their Ave
Maria the prayer: Lord, save us from
the devil, the Turk, and the comet" II
1892 comet was seen by the people o.
Milan at MONDAY.
The comet Of 1877 was the most i'm
portant one that had then been seen
Tycho Brahe first saw it one evening
Whan he ont 1oto