Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1882-05-11
About Comets.
From the Baltimore Day. |

From the Baltimore Day.
| while these lines are being pcnncd mys-
tcriols traveller from the regions of space is
| speeding toward the sun ut Il rate which baf-
lies all conception, in which thousands of
miles are swept over in few minutes, and
hours remove barriers of millions of miles
! Yet SO far remote is the realm from which
the stranger has set out on its return Jour
ney to the sun, that vast as It's dimensions
are it is but quite lately that its light has
become visible TO the eye rs tiny white
stain on the blue vault of heaven. Day by
day il nears us: in week it will he plainly
seen by all who choose to look for it ! in five.
it will be the unccasing and perplcxing que
ry of the ignorant and credulous: "What
does this blazing prodigy portcnd ?"
The num.'er of comets is unknown.
there are doubtless hundreds of them which
we never see. and many more whose wall
dcrlngs lead them 10 such. remote regions
That thousands OF years. nay ages. arc re-
q ired to exhaust that restless spirit that
has hurried them away. ere the mighty mon
a.rh OF day can once more exert sufficient
Influence to recall them back TO his frrvid
embrace
Much anxiety rs to the safety Of the earth
is often manifested by eXcitablc people III
the appearance of 4 comet but ii is absurd
to suppose that the earth should suller dis
turhancc from body which must be inf
nitcly lighter than any known substance
lighter than the vapor of ether. or even hv-
trogcn gas. the lightcst substance known.
Stars have been seen through the tails of
the largest and brightest comets. In fact it
may be reasonably doubted if the tails of
comets really represent any substancca ut ALL
The overwhelming weight of testimony is
that they are simply an electric beam pro-
c,elin@ from the nucleus or brighter part
One powerful argument in favor Of this the
Dry is that the material of the tail first mov-
es toward the sun and is then rcpcled from
it. The Rev. II. W. Webb records that in
the case Of IL comet which appeared in 1862
calculations showed that on one night
in July the earth must have passed
through the tail. and that on that occasion
IL marked aurorl display was visible. This
il need hardly be said, would strongly sug-
geSt the electrical nature of the appcndagc
In the case OLA comet discovered hy Tenn
| pie. and having period of about 30 years
very startling discovery was made in the
last decade. 1t was found that not only did
tllc tIlo't COllCltlc W ltlt llllt vi tHc nfcalpSl
splcndor and minimum development of the
celebrated November mctcors of 1888 and
1866. but those bodies were actually pursu-
ing the same orbit rs Temples comet The
conclusion was inevitable that comets are
followed in their progress by trains.of cos
mical dust. A distinguished French savant
found. by careful experiments. that plates
moistened with glyccrinc and exposed on
the nights of the metcoric displays acquire
Il delicate impregnation with iron PARTICLES
sufficient to yield the usual reactions with
the chemical tests for the metal
The comet of 1882 belongs to the long
period order Its aphelion point, or, in other
words, that portion of its oval path in
which it is most remote from the sun. is far
beyond the orbit of Neptune, the most dis
tant member Of the solar system. At the
y csent time it is travcrsing the constclla-
ton Cephcus. and an imaginay line
drawn from the bright star Vega through
The Pole star, in the direction of Capclia,
p sscs nearly through it. twill be Il really
spended object in June, when, let us hope
the preScnt generation may view it with
.horc exalted and intellectual feelings than
those which led the early Christians in l456
I add to the Ave Maria in that year tic
pNyc', "Lord, save us from the devil, the
Turk and the comet"