Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1881-11-24
The Great Comet of 1881.

UNKNOWN HERETOFORE, TT WILL. NOT
RETURN FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS,
| IF EvER-'VHAT WAS LEANED OF 1T.
The great comet fCornet 3, 1sSD
being now, except in telescopes, =
thing of the past, it may be we'll to
gather together the results obtained
by different scientific men from
their studies of it. The comet was
seen by the naked eye in South
America and Australia at least a
month before it was observed here.
1t was then much fainter object
than when it had arrived at its per-
helion, which was about coincident
with the date of its northern dis
covery. Good o5servatories exis.
at Rio Janeiro, Cordoba, in South
America, and at Melbourne aud
Sidney, in Australia. The obser-
yations Of it taken in these places,
in its incipient stage, while not re-
veaiing anything new as regards it's
constitution or structure, have been
valuable in deducing tho form of
its orbit and its identity with pre-
vious comets The northern OBJ
servations have been more varied
and productive.
The first of these was for the
purpose of gaining data for COM.
pntation of its orbit. The results
show that if it ever returns il will
only be after the lapse of thousands
Of years. They also show that if it
has ever been here before there Is
no record of it 60 well authenticat-
ed as to identity the two objects.
Our comet may be fractional part
of a still greater comet which long
ago was forced by some internal
convnlsion to shift for itself, and
which has since followed the wake
of its parent through space.
The second class of observations
were those going into the detalfs of
its physical appearance. They
have shown that violent forces have
Leen continually acting within, and
render the disruption theory prob
able. Great streams of luminous
gas would issue from the nucleus.
Envelopes would form thcm5elves
around it and be disslpated. The
masses of haze surrounding il
would show ever-changirg shapes.
aud ell appearances would indicate
strong forces operating within its
mass, which forces were stirred into
life by approach to the sun and di-
minished by recession.
Tho spectroscopic observation.
have given. in the words of Will
liam Huggins, the great Englisl
authority in this line of work, the
: following. results: "Part of tho
light from comets Is reflected scIal
: light, and another part is light O
their own. The spectrum Of this
light shows the presence in the
comet of carbon, possibly in com
; biuation with hydrogen" The
s nucleus is probably solid, and re-
fleets solar light, just as the moon
8 does, while the streamers, the en-
J velopes and the tails are masses o
u carbon or hydro-carbon gssses
em,,ing light of their own.
Besides, tho proof, Of the fac
: that comets can be photographed
. the results obtained by the Gamers
y in photographing the comet itael
are not very valuable. But .h'
= photographs Of the spectrum are o
- >, the highest utility, affording tn
means Of leisurely and certainl.
> determining the position of tn
= bright lines and the character OF th
y substances which produce them
- =. and enabling spectroscopists tt
compare with one another thei
charts.
n Such is a brief summary Of re
1t suits obtained from tho productiv
= comet. Never was one more care
&c fully observed or by better obsery
So ers or Instruments. Nothing nes
W as to comets in general has bee
as obtained, but old theories hav
ID been established and a mass of OBJ
,e servations taken which some da
will much assist in settling the sti
ID enigmatical question as to what th
y origin, nature, and purpose Of com
ID cts are.
For Gnunh