Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-12-06
COMETS AND STARS.
What Can Now Be Seen In the
Evening skies.
Phfladelphia LedQer.

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The new comet recently discovered
by Professor Swift, of Rochester
Comet +, 1SSl), is faint object without a
tail, situated about 20 degrees from the Pole
star, in the direction of the constellation
Perseus. The bad weather has prevented
any systematic observation of 1t. Its in
terest lies In the fact that it may be the
comet Of 1912, which was expected to come
towards us from the north. The comet was
calculated by Eucke to have a period Of
nearly seventy-one years, which would
bring it to perihelion In the spring Of 1888.
But more recent calculations have rendered
it possible that this period is too long.
When 1t was last here, it was visible
to the naked eye, and had a tail
of about 2 degrees in length (about half
the distance between the pointers of the
D'poer) and hence it was not as bright as
either of the naked eye comets Of this sum-
mer. This makes six comets for this year.
One Of these was seen first in Europe, one
in South America, and the rest in the United
States. There have been about this many
discovered yearly for some time, but the un-
usual brightness of two of them and the
prize offered for them have drawn public
attention In that way.
Doubtless in the interplanetarY spaces are
numerous bodies of this character. Some
of them move around the sun again and
them approach 1t In huge parabolas, swing
around, and acquire momentum enough to
carry them off again to some other sun,
and are thus visitants of one system after
another. till their motion is stopped by col
lision with some other planet, or so re-
tarded by its attraction as to be enchafned
to its system forever after. Many of them,
perhaps all. are followed In their paths by
a mass OF meteorids, which their own dis
ruptive tendencies have separated from
them. There is plenty OF room for new
discoveries in this line of astronomical
work, and it is about the only way In which
the owners of small telescopes can make
any discoveries OF new bodies. The great
glasses have found all the planets and satel
lites readily discernible, while the nebulse
and clusters are so Interchangeable in appear
ance that nothing novel can be hoped for
there.
A meteor shower of considerable promi-
nence occurs about the 10th-12th of twelfth
month. The evening after 6 o'clock and
before moon rising, will be the best time to
look for them. The radiant point is not
far from the bright star Castor. in the
Twins; hence they are called Gemindis.
The November meteOrs" of this yesr
were failure, owing to the presence OF
moonlight all the while that Leo was above
the horizon.
Early in the month Mercury may be
looked for an hour before sunrise. On the
9Th it will approach within minutes of the
lucid star 5ta Scorpi. II Mercury could
ever be seen away from the sun, aud high
up from the horizon, it would be brighter
than all but very few stars But its little
orbit Is always so close to the sun that 1t is
but rarely that it can be seen at all. 1t is
said that Copernicus never saw 1t. 1t has
phases like Venus and the moon, but no
markings, so far as can be certainly known.
Hence its time of revolution and the posi-
tion of its axis cannot be determined. On
the Sd Mercury and Venus will be close to-
gether. Ga the 10th Venus will almost Craze
Beta Scorpii. On the 10Th the old moon
will be near to them both. They are now
morning stars.
Jupiter, now the brightest object in the
evening sky, except the moon, is halfway
up from eastern horizon, near the Pleiades.
Saturn precedes it about - degrees. Ris-
ing late, about 8 or 9 O'Clock, nearly in a
line with the other two, is the ruddy Mars.
Neptune is between Jupiter aud Saturn, in
visible except in good telescopes. Uranus
is in the constellation Vlrginis, and rises
about O'Clock in the morning.
The moon occults the fourth magnitude
star NJ Geminorum about 6:14 on the
morning of the 9TH, and Alpha Csncri
about 6:49 on the morning Of the 10th.
These can both be readily seen with a
small telescope.
Astronomers cannot well have a worse
month for work than that just closing. A
large msj lrity OF the nights were cloudy,
and on most of the others the state of the
atmosphere was such as to preclude salts
factory observation. The indefniteness of
a light seen through the heated air over a
hot stove will give some idea OF the appear
ance of planet on a night when the "see-
ing" is bad. No distinct outline or features
can be seen, but all bright objects seem en-
larged. Such occasions are as valueless as
cloudy nights. 1t often happens, however,
that the night improves as 1t advances, so
that, as a rule, the morning hours are the
most favorable for observation. Is
Haverford College Observatory, eleventh
month, "a, 1881.