, 1882-06-10
THE COMING GREAT COMET.
Promise Ofam Unparalleled Ge-
IeSfiaI AnrC nc 4.
(NelC YORK. SIN

Z L = fON't'
If the comet that WAS discovered 10y Il
Young as r0nomer d week ago fdln'S nail
the promises made for it, we may expect
to behold, in May or June, a celestial Np'c-
tacle such MS has not been cqua!lrd since
1858 or 1911. This comet, although
some 200, 000, 900 miles from rs ptI1lrliol,
which ii will not reach for three mos us,
shows a bright tail and a StaIi he h0c'eu~.
The infe renee is fair that the comet Is /
very large one, and that when II 9ttS lnIo
our n%ei&hborhood it VIII present a md2Hl.
fcent appearance. Moreover, Prot. Ci"nd
ler's figures show that the comet Is pug
ing almost straight AZ the sun, Whlcil u
Will probably approach Wti'iA one Ad"dIe"
thousand miles. 1he ouIy other comets,
in the long list of those bodies whose
orbits have been calculated, winch aplTodch-
ed anything like as near 10 the sun as
this are the Comet OF 81 b ~, the comet
of I6GS, the comet OF 1850, often called
Newt0n'S comet, the comet OF 1~43, ana the
comet OF 1880. The last named WAS ohSetN-
ed ONLY in South America and Australia aEd
at the Cape Of Good l.ope. oucelninG tIe
comet of $40 b. Z. OF which trlSnti"l
things are related, and which is sand 10
have split in two, not mu h is known, OUT
the measurements made in the other eases
are generally to be depended upon. IN
fact, it was tine nearneSS OF tile ppiodc"
of the comet Of 1856 which led Newton 10
anticipate poSSib G peril TO the earth trohi
the fall Of a great comet into the Sui.
This is not the popular virW0f The dangers
from comets, the fear usually beng 'haj
they may strike tie earth, or produce peN'l-
lence by miigIiug tle substance OF (htlf
tails with our atmosphere. Ot ldIP, me
other view has been made more conSutU"uS,
especially sine" Mr.. ProctoI's recent aruc.e
on what he calls the menacing comet 81
1880, which he anticipates may return III
1897
The appearance of this new comet on.
the heels of the discussion awakened 10y
Mr. Froctor's suggestion gives the SuoJect
renewed interest, especially in lew Of me
announcement that the coming comet Is go
ing so close to the sun. Unless The caIcuta-
tors have made a very great blundcr 1t viii
pass through the corona, and, II large
enough, may Craze the luminous surface.
it should be noticed that there is Il dis.
C"epancy between the estimates OF the
peIiheli0n distance mnde by Prof.fhUitt!ef
of Harvard university, and Prot. BOSS,
of the Dudley observatory, the latter
making the distance considerably greater
than that above given. loth agree how
ever, that the approach will be a close one.
The question whether the earth may not
at some time be III danger from Il great
comet is all the more interesting bec;; sc
men Of science ale not exactly IN accord
upon it. Mr.. Proctor is not the only
astronomer who thinks that il ever the
world is to he destroyed with heat II viii
be when a great comet plunges INTO the
sun. Even those who think Nj. Proctor
is mistaken in his conclusions admit that
given a comet big enough and massive
enough, undoubtedly its fall up0n the sun
would prove disastrous to the earth But
they say it would require a body having a
mass something like that OF Jupiter 10
produce such effects, and compared with
Jupiter the most massive comets ever seen
are mere piemies. Besides there seems TO
be good reason to believe that a come
would. on approaching close enough to
the sun, be pulled 10 pieces ana SO drop
piecemea; into the great orb, the fall beng
prolonged perhaps through mai,y revolu-
tions,s so thai the accession OF heat caused
by the conversion of the comets m0Iloh
would be distributed over a considerable
period of time. Besides, as Pro-. Young
has pointed out, if a comet fell INTO tue
sun the increase Of heat would be mainly