Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-06-29
THE COMET
NAY BE DONATI'S. 1T LOOKS DIE.
FEKENT NOW.
A Man who says he Saw 10 Last Fall
A Charleston filOt's story.

Ma" rsS s...s.n s:ss h. ,..:. Sc: i Last Fall
What Professor Draper. Of New Yark. says.
The professor said that the aspect Of the
comet lad completely changed since Sat-
urday night. On that night the lateral
expansion Of tho coma that caused it to
resemble huge bird Of flame, with semi.
extended wings, was very strongly marked
and appeared in the photographs taken at
that time with extraordinary distinctDess.
That phenomenon had now altogether dis
appeared. The brilliant centre was now
crossed by several bands of light, and
these were rayed out at the margins in .
very peculiar manner. In its pres
ent aspect it strongly suggested Don
ats comet, and answered in nearly
every particular the description Of that
body but, Of course, NO emphasis could
be placed upon these optical phenomena,
which were wholly dclusivc. The idea
1907 was, he said, based upon misappre-
hensiOn OfGouli's telegram, which seemed
to allude to the comet of 1907 in one of its
sentences, and then went ON with some al
lusiOn 20 the ascension and dccliuatiOn,
without further reference to the subject.
Whether he meant to bs understood that
the position Of the present body was the
same as that Of the comet Of 1907, or iu-
tended to suggest that it was the same,
could not be made out from the
blind wording Of his message. The
latter he did not think probable, but all
theories on the subject of identity must be
cOniectural until further observations had
been made and the orbit had bcen COM
puted. Comets were too scarce in tho ply
sical universe to rcntlcr it likely that two
different ones Of such magnitude IN that
now under observation and that described
by Gould had appeared ut the same time.
4 priori, therefore, in the absence Of COM
putatiOns it was probable that GOuld's
comet and tho one discovered here last
week were the same body, but it would
not be prudent to assert that such was the
fact until further data had been recorded.
Thus far Prof. Draper has taken tw"
pretty good negatives Of the centre and
coma and several indifferent ones. The
best were obtained on Saturday night dur
ing the attempt described at length in
these columns on Monday. On Sunday
night the attempt was renewed, but not
with marked success. The sky was over
cast with q thin vapOr, and the light OF
the stranger was probably reduced to one
third or One-fOurth its normal bril-
liancy. Nevertheless, the plate WAS pre-
pared and exposed, although before
good impression could be taken it was
near daylight and useless to continue the
work. The exposure on Friday night,
which was II minutes long, only served
to show beyond question that photo
graph of comet could bc taken, and IL
ol, <G, I 81, ,<oI
that the light Of these bodies contained
rays Of the spectrum beyond the violet.
Ii hereafter any one were to tell him that
the spectrum Of comet comprised NO
lines beyond +, he should say that he was
mistaken for the very fact that mega
tive could be obtained OF the centre and
coma proved the existence in the light OF
the violet and ultra viOlet-the most
highly refrangible rays Of the spectrum.
When Prof. Draper las obtained salts
factory photograph Of the body itself he
will address himself to the task of photo
graphing the spectrum, which is work
Of immense difficulty. His spectrOscOpe
researches have shown that the coma con-
tains vapOr of carbon, but he doubts
whether it is wholly composed Of that.
Tho Man who Saw 1t Last Fall
Prof Klein, Of Hartford, KY. writes to
the Louisville C0urier-JOurnal: "This So
called newly discovered comet may be
new to the world at large, but it is not
new to me, rs l have been gazing upon
this very comet ever since last September.
You will remember that told you in INV
letters that it would b. visible to the
naked eye in June or July, 1881, and that
it would not bc seen again for 20 years.
Furthermore, it is not the comet Of 1919,
but it is the comet Of 1881, which was the
supposed cause Of the terrific atnnOsphical
disturbances Of that year. I feel that
know more about this comet than other
astronomers, as / have nursed it, a. it
were, from its first appearance until the
present, and | know my comet by sight,
just as Il father would know his children
by seeing them. Prof Swift and other
eminent scientists have written to me in
regard to it from time to time ever since
las: fall.''
A ChnrlssiOn Pilot Sses Two.
One Of the Charleston pilots who came
in yesterday morning reported that he not
only saw the comet in the northeast, but
also saw another comet in the southern
hemisphere. Not being IN astronomer he
is unable to locate it with reference to the
consultations, but rs there was comet
months ago, it il possible that this NAV
be the same, and that it has now come
withis range Of the North American
vision.
Dudley Observatory Vows.
The approximate elements Of the new
comet have been computed at tho Dudley
o Observatory, Albany, NY. Tho result
indicates that the comet was never seen
before this year, and that it is the Same az
that repOfted from South America. Il is
81, 600, 900 miles from the earth and mov-
ing away at the rate of 900, 900 miles
daily. 1t passed it's pcrihclion on June 23,
and was nearest the earth on June 10. Its
tail is over 8, ,OOO, 900 miles long. Another
accurate observation will be needed before
the comets course in space can be definite
ly predicted.