The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-07-16
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Something About the Comet.

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Something About the Comet.
The p,9somet whia aade its appearance
so suddenly a coul Of days age. was
watched and ii posi1a IN asssaied yestsasr'
day6 orning throhgh. sthe big teleseopesft
|! the Dearborn Observatory The lengthtlef
the comet and tail jared almost precise
j. eight and half degrees, with, ia few signs
Of streamcr light extending little fur her,
but not forming definite tail beyond the
limit named. Some Of the published esti'
mates Of length, made by the parties who
first saw the comet, were much greater than
this. 1t appears probable that the tail was
really longer on Wednesday morning than
yesterday; as it is so described by gentle
man who saw it on. both days. At twenty
four minutes past three o'clocks tic dec|ina-
ton was forty degrees fcrty,eisht mln-
utes north, and the right ascension five
hours and thirty-six minutes, within few
seconds.
The comet is travelling at the rate Of about
five degrees northward, 2H minutes OF time
eastward, per day. The angular diameter
of the nucleus was Gls seconds of arc, and
the distance from its center to the apparent
top Of the envelope was Is seconds Of arc.
Day before yesterday it was mere matter
Of guess that this newly. discovered comet
was identical with the comet of 1872, which
was discovered by Pons in July, passed its
perihcion in September, and was computed
by Encke to have a period Of seventy and
seven tenths years, which would bring it
around again in the early part Of 1888. 1t is
a well known fact, however, that the meas
ures Of position of comet, moving in a
very elongated orbit, can scarcely be
depended upon to give result much nearer
than this, especially if the perturbing attrac-
tons OF the planets IT the solar system a:c
not taken into the account. The comet Of
1872, for instance, has swung out into space
at a distance from the sun, fifteen times
greater than that Of the earth, which carried
it considerably beyond the orbit of Saturn,
and the attracting power Of the giant masses
Of the solar system, to say nothing Of the
hundreds OF asteroids which have been us.
covered since Encke made his calculation.
are quite sufficient to cause such difference
in the result, if the comet passed near some
OF them. l.a,
Making due allowance for this, the motion
OF the comet, as so far observed, is partly
reconcilabe with that of the comet of 1912.
1t is travelling in, approximately, the same
plane, but the position of the point of peri
hclion passage in the computed orbit does
not appear TO agree with that OF the pres
ent comet. The measures taken yester-
day have been collated by the Tribune as
tronomer, and he has decided the follow
ing as approximate statements Of a,isgni-
tude---in terms with which the average real
er is more familiar than with degrees and
minutes: Pm
4 The distance of the comet from the earth
Yesterday morning was 10000, 900 miles; the
diameter of the nucleus, 1000 miles; the
shortest diameter Of the comet, measured
through the nucleus, 1000 miles; and the
length Of the tail, 4,5o0, 900 miles. y.
The comet would appear to have already
passed (nearly) between the earth and the
sun; and the shortening of the tail, above
referred to, might be supposed to indicate
that it has passed its perihclion some days
ago. The latter, however, does not rest on
sufficient data as yet. 1t is we'll known that
at least three observations, at moderate in
tervals Of time, must be made of . comet
before the elements of its orbit can be de-
termined by its computers. Hence other
observations, besides those made yesterday,
will be required to establish the leading
| facts of the comets movements. The re-
qUired measures will be made at the Dear:
born Observatory and at numerous other
places. weather permitting; and the comet
il rapidly moving into more favorable part
of the heavens for measuring than that in
which it has hitherto been seen in
the United States. AS above noted the
comet is rapidly moving northward. The
degrees Of yesterdays motion carried it so
far north that it was above the horizon dur
ing the whole of last night, instead of being
about four hours below, as on the previous
night. 1t will be above the horizon the
whole Of Tomorrow night, passing the low.
est point due north about twenty minutes
past eleven O'Clock, and will be visible, with
= clear sky, from dark till twenty minutes
h past eleven to the west OF north, and from
twenty minutes past eleven till dayligbtto
the east Of north. just how long twill
continue visible cannot at present be told,
but it will undoubtedly BE- a brilliant object
in the; evening sky for several days, and pos
sibly weeks, hence. The line of reasoning
adopted in regatd to its present distance
leads, however, to the conclusion that it is
decreasing in briiliancy. ,@ l'Ai ,%s.sn
1t may be interesting to know that the
length Of the tail Yesterday morning W.
four times the greatest observed length Of
tail carried by the come, of 1872, .Thit
however, is no proof that two are no,
identical, as the apparent length of tail de.
b ponds upon the distance from the sun when
seen, and alsd,' to a very large extent, upon
its distance at the same time from the Oh.
!. server, who watches it from the surface Of
the eyer.movingr esrth.-Cnieago Tribune
June rs. ,,... ,,,, ,,nt,t an i
Il --'''"' - nsrn!. vnI
\ Pretty Little Romance me- u Of the Penn.
'I.n :, .,.a. sylvania Flood; .o,ns So b.
There is quite romantic story told ID
connection with the land .slides on the Bal.
timore & Ohio Road. A McKeesport pa.
young man named Gardner, was engaged 10
. be married. toa West Newton (Pa.) young
lady named Miss Nellie Downs, and hi
wedding had been arranged TOR Thursday
evening, and accordingly the ard mt loyel
boarded the Uniontown Accommodation Of
| Th1lrsflax affornaon with Ana i,a4onA;o,,. \.