The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-06-25
RE 9 ConR AZ .
a Large and Vivid YIsilant In the Norlh
Eastern Say.

a Large and Vivid VIsitant IN the NOFih
Eastern Say.
Yesterday morning several newspaper
men going home alter their nights lAbors,
noticed in the north eastern sky, in some
twenty odd degrees Of ascension, q large
and quite brilliant comet. 1t was "headed"
toward the horizon, the tail extending
toward the Zenith, or a little nOrthWard
Of that. 1t had apparently been above the
horizon for some unexpectedly rising
about one O'Clock 4, N.
This is undoubtedly the sames comet
seen about q month ago by an astronomer
OF South America, and since noticed by
observers in every part Of our " coun'
try, 1t hasSppsrently been for sometime in
q portion Of lis orbit where 1t would have
been visible to jewellers IN this sphere,
but for the fact thRt 1t was so close In the
wake OF the sun that It's rays were obscured
by the greater brilliAncy ofthe latter body
A dispatch TO the associated press yes
terdAy said that Prof. 0rmond Stone, oil the
Cincinnati Observatory, observed the
comet Thursday night and says 1t is NOV
ing rapidly north. He is positive that It
Is not the comet OF OF 1902, but thinks 1t
may be that OF 1907, whose return was
not expected by astronomers for 100
years, and he thinks 1t is the same comet
seen about June Sd by Dr., Gould in South
America. The RppRritiOA is exceedingly
interesting, and will be watched nightly
by Cincinnati scientists.
The fact that the nature OF comets has
been SO little understood has in all ages
led To itA being an object Of dread and
awe to the superstitious. In early times
they were looked upon as dire prognOsli
Gators, foTetellinY war and blOod,hed, and
indeed in 1861 the appearance oil a comet
was considered by mauy crednlous people
in this country as an auguTy Of the war OF
the rebellion, 10 u great extent, how
ever, the superstiiious Tears OF the anCienls
have been replaced In this century by the
uniounded fear Of the earth's collision
with q comet.
AS remarked, the real nature Of these
heavenly bodies Is little understood, A
comet ia a body partly, II not entirely, neh
ulous, revolving about the sun in an Of bit
usually much more elongated than thai
pursued by q planet. The nucleus obeys
the law OF gravity unintllenced by the
motions Of tho tail, The maIeTial Of the
tail first moves toward the sun and Ia thea
repelIed from II. The evident polarity
leads to the natural conjecture that the
tail is electricity itself,
Comets are located at a greater distance
from the earth than the NOON. There
was considerable controversy among the
early astronomers as TO tho nature OF The
orbits pursued by comets, The frst real
proof OF cOmetsry orbits was offered by
the researches OF HALEY into the motion
OF a comet discovered by himself III 1852
HALEY computed the orbit OF this comet,
and having found that the shape OF / 9 or
bit WAS either parablliC or u very extended
e%lliPsO,, he examined the records Of an
Cient comets, and after incredible labor
succeeded in discovering two whose
motions agreed very closely withth0Ge Of
the comet discovered by him. One Of
these bad teen observed by AppIan In
1881 andthe other by Kepplerin 1907; and
HALEY noticed that the intervals between
the three years, 1881, 1907 aud 1852 we're
near enough to Quallty to suggest that one
and the same comet had been observed on
all three occasions. Finding that Cnme'a
were observed In 1906, 1880 and 1855, he
was further confirmed In the idea VI the
~periodiCity OF thia comets return, and be
WAS thus led to predict the return OF the
comet about 1868, or the beginning Of
1850. He placed the return later than the
former observed intervals could have gug.
gested, LeCluse he found that the RttraO.
ton Of Jupiter would retard the comet,
He could not expect to live to sea his pre-.
diCtion fulfilled, although he lived TO the
age OF eighty four and died sixteen
years before the comet returned. AS
the time Of it's return approached
Olairant, D'Alenbut and Enler began to
compute the retarding influence OF the
planets Saturn and Jupiter. Clairant was
the most successful, showing that Saturn
would delay the return Of the comet five
months and Jupiter about seventeen
months, 30 that the comet should not
come to ihs peIihelion until April Is, 1850.
A revision OF bis computations made the
date April 2, and the comet actually
reached lie ~perihelion on March Is; oneOf
the most brilliant trlumphs In the history
oil astronomy.
1t is yet too carly to tell definitely
whether this comet is one Of those men.
toned or another; but astronomers every
where will have something Of interest as a
motive for research while 1t remains visi,
bic. II II be the comet Of 1872 II Is moving
southeast At the rate OF one degree a day,
although 10 most observers 1t will seem
stationary, and may be seen between two
and three A., NJ, for some time TO come. II
Is the typical comet, like the one usually
pictured, with nucleus and long tall,
slightly curved and spread out at the end.
1t may be the comet Of 1912 or q new
conner. 1t will require further observation
to determine.