, 1881-06-26


| that orbit. The distance was only five de-
| grees, which was pretty near approach,
considering how near the Gomez vas 10
the eartll.-being about one-third the dis-
! 1t would therefore, appear that tue two 9
orbits are 1T least very near together, but
should be more inclined to think that It = :;
case Of two comets moving i'll nearly Inc
| same orbit rather than of Il return of the
same comet. Ono reason for this is, that, II
it had been periodic comet, returning every
seycnty-four years, it could not have fa1letl
to have been observed on former occasions,
because it would hare returned i'll l134 and
in 1850.
n NEITHER OF TIIEs1: YEARS
was any such comet observed. The position
of its orbit is such that it could hardly have
failed to be seen had it returned. Taking
the fact oft itsnol-appear;llce with the facl That
its orbit was an almost perfect paraoola, IL IS
impossible to suppose that this Is tile sstiilt
comet, unless it has. in the meantime, been
subject 10 some unknown disturbing force,
such as happened to the comet OF l7'0 The
fate Of this last comet should bea warning 10
all such bodies against strayins into the
observed, the astronomers were :esto!sls!lc'l 10
find it moving in ait orbit having il period OF
less tilan six years, although it had never
before been seen. and was so bright as to be
plainly visible 10 the naked eye.
II WAS SEvE1. SEEN AFTERWARDS,
around The sun, i'll consequence Ut coming
within the sphere of tile attractions Of .Jupi-
ter. 1t made two revolutions around the
sun. although only observed 1T one, returned,
AMI again fell in with Jupiter, whose at-
tr;lctluns drew it 50 far out ot Its orbit
that it has gone nstray ever Since. Now,
if tho comet Of 1907 had passed near Jupiter,
or amy very large planet, we might suppose
it to Ilaye<been brought back by its attrac-
tion; hut, It's have said, the position Ut the
1s iitrt 111f s.Hit
amy OF tile known planets. 1t came 10 lis III
space from the south side of the plane Of the
solar system, nild returned on the north side.
To this fact is due the peculiarly Of lis mo-
meridian of right ascension from
Il point 50 or 30 degrees south, where
first seen, tU where it now is. 1t must hive
passed very near between the earth AID sun
about a week or ten days ago.
II Is THIS rECCLIAEIrf OF IT'S MOTION
Which has rendered its discovery so difficult,
and, though it has really been in our sky tor
more than Il month, it did not rise till after
sunrise and set every afternoon before the
sun did, SO it WIS hidden from view: As
sool'' howevsr as it got north of II the ;'
I': Ssf:re the 0esa st' to and rise 10 set ''s
little af1cr At length it got so far north that
it WAS visible before sunrise, rItl. from the
present time. it will he visible after sunset:
We can now speak with some confidence Of
ing tmth frum the eartli and from The sun.
and will, therefore. grow fainter every day,
until it disappears from view.
Meanwhile it will continue its present.
course almost directly tor the North Pole.
At present it is moving about two degrees Il
hay. hui this will, Of course, tliinlnlsl and,
after July 5. he less 1!lan one degree Il day.
+aFrEl MONDAY NEXT
it wi1l be So fur north u TO not sit at all, and
will be visible all night. How. long it will
,1,hf,
probably TOR not more than Two weeks. It
will, however, very naturally. be visible in
tho telescope. for i long time. probably for
several months. The interesting questions
connected with its nlotiou cannot well be
ya,iols from the Southern Hemisphere.
These observations, combined with n,ll own,
will show whctner II is moving IN
:n el!l,se or Il paraDo!s II II
Is founst to be moving in Al ellil'se of about
ing. 1t will lead /" the suspicion that The
comet, since its return III lSU7, has fallen in
with sonlc unknown celestial body, which
has sent it back again. If, however. is l
4 parabola, we shall have to consider that it
AN ENTIRELY NEW COMET,
having no connection with that Of 1907,
except, that it is moving in. MI orbit
somewhere near it. This COMET
that of 1sl:, the return Of which is expected
this year or next. The comet Of 1917 does
not appear 10 have been an especially bright
one, aud would not excite attention at tile
it to be moving ill Ill ellipst, with Il period of
about seventy years Its return is, therefore,
expected about this time. It does not APP
pear that tile present comet Is moving III the
same orbit, although thetwo orbits certainly
eto agree very closely. The uncertainty Of
ftf htrIH{f S1t.t3 fl1nf cannot fell within