Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1882-09-22
A Da ylight Comet.

WAsIIISGTuS. sept. la-Ttlc greatest comet
reported In this morning IaI-rs a. having l-ct
discovered 10y Observers IN Colorado Wa, nb>.,rv
ed at the Naval Observatory this afternoon II
was found in rlgi ascension II hour~ ~ minutes
3 seconds and dcciinaiinu north no degrees IA tl
l0 minutes. The comet was easily seen with IN,
naked eye. and exhibited short tail with n
bright head of considerable. extent In the ,al,.
scope the nucleus showed ~ "a confused mass O.
bright light, indicating large comet with plenty
of loose material. Extending on both sides w,r,
seen bright ares Of light presenting the apr-.ar.
ance Of n bird with ou'->tTetched wings. This
afternoon dispatch was received from IN.
phSer. atory Of Paris to the following effect
''rhOl ru's comet observed at Me-, about nr.,r
September Is degrees west of the sun Tn.
nuclei gives continuous spectrum very brit
liant and very much extended towards. thu
violet Roth tail and nucleus give TIN. sodium
lines extremely brilliant, very sharply divided
and characteristics. They seem displaced toward
the red The spectro>copic b~cryations re-
ported in the above dispatch arr of extraorii arv
interest They Indicate that this l. the second
comet that has shown Il SOlium spectrum The
iirst was that discovered this year by Wells. Mt
the dudley Observatory, aud observed AT thar
institution in full daylight.
The reported displacement of the two sodium
ines toward the red end OF the spectrum X of
he highest interest. since II indicates that tbs
comet Is now moving towards the earth with
planetary velocity. such an observation has
never before been made n.the case of any comet
From the position given in the above. disp,tch
he comet is moving westward from the sun nj
the rate of 1--WE or six degrees daily. IL is almost
certain that the comet has now passed It's perihel-
Iners will now be anxious To learn If this comet
Is identical with the one recently discovered In
south America. II this Identity is proved. II
will follow that 1t has approached very near the
sun-probaby as close did the great comet of
lSSI-the comet which had the smallest perihel-
ion distance on record. Several days must elanse
before the particulars of the orbit can he calcnI
atcd by astronomers and this question be de
finitnly settled.
The comet to-day at O'Clock was nine degrees
west of the sun. and it will probably have in
creased this distance by sunrise the 10Th to
twelve or thirteen degrees. 1t will therefore rise
some what before the sun, but owing to the fact
thar it is also farther south than the sun il Will
not be readily seen before sunrise. In a few
DAYS, however, with its present rate and direc-
ton of motion, il should become a brilliant Oh
ject in the morning sky.
On the whole this may be regarded rs one of
modern times. The only one which resembles
il in its special features of interest is the great
comet Of lsf3 which, like this one was visible tn
the naked eye in full sunlight
BarnardS comet was also observed Mt the
Naval Observatory this morning at O'Clock by
Prof. FriSbie. It's right ascension was hours
2 minutes, and declination II degrees IL minutes
north. 1t presented the usual appearance of a
telescope comet, with slight central condensa- :