Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1882-09-21
THE COMETS PLUNGE
Professor lsOss Thinks 1t Must Fall Head
long Into the Sun.

Professor lsuss thinks 1t Must FAN Head
long Into the SUN.
Professor Lewis Boss, of the Dudley Oh
servatory, Albany, is now in Washington
ON his way to Santiago de Chile. where he
is to observe the transit of Venus. Prof.
Boss said, concerning the comet now to he
seen near the sun " have scarcely u
doubt in my own mind that we are actu
ally witnessing return Of the great comets
Of 1S43 and 1880. l believe that the peri
helion passage will be found to have occur
red some hours previous to Greenwich midi
night Of tho 18th, and that the orbit will
be found to be elliptical, with period Of
less than three years. We may, therefore,
expect the comet back again In 1884, ii
not sooner. At each fresh plunge into the
solar atmosphere the. comet, which at this
time is moving with the enormous velocity
of $40 miles per second, will be impeded
in It's flight. The result of this will be to
make the intervals between successive re.
turns continually diminish in length.
Hotter and hotter will become the mad
flight of the splendid comet under the all
powerful and increasing attraction of tho
sun. At last and as believe before tho
close Of the present century, tho comet on
some of its recurring approaches to the
SUD, will meet low down in the solar at
mOSpherc an obstruction too great to be
resisted.
"It will then fall headloDg into the sun
anil vanish from tho catalogue Of comets
forever. This catastrophe may occur next
year or some years later, but l believe it
must come sooner later. l am more in
tho comet will tako place suddenly rather
kD~u,> 1,xyu Il sc
even possible that this event may occur
without our knowledge, but il We are for
tunate enough, some time when tho comet
is on it's homeward journey to tho sun,
wo shall watch him gradually approach
ing tho great lunlinary of day until
cast in his rays, and then We shall watch
in vain for his emergence. This may seem
to be bold prediction, and I may have
made some error whose existence do not
now suspect. If so shall be glad to have
it pointed out. and at all events shall
watch for tho first rude clements Of tho
present comet which are yet to DO COM
pleted with fervcnJ interest,"" IL .his
proves to be a return of tho Gould comet
Of 1880 it will not long remain in view.
BY the 2Gth of September it will be about
twenty degrees west of tho sun. 1t will
then be only One-tenth as bright as on the
10th of September. On October 10, its
distance from the sun will be about forty
degrees west, and it will be only one
fifteenth part rs bright as on the 10Th. 1t
will probably still be seen in large telo-
scopes, though to best advantage i'll equa-
tOrial attitudes.
Short as this period Of visibility will
probably be, it ought to be long enough to
enable astronomers to reap an abundant
harvest of observations, which shall settle
tho form of the orbit within narrow limits
and determine with certainty whether tho
hypothesis of Professor Boss Inc true.
Tho observer Of the new comet mt the
naval observatory says cit was very
prominent object, rising about half All
hour before the sun and to the sOuthwald
of it at ten or twelve degrees The comet
was very plainly seen with the naked eye
after sunrise. About a. m. it was easily
followed with the telescope. This is tho
third instance in q hundred years Of the
observation of a comet in broad daylight
with a meridian instrument"