Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1882-10-07
Is the Comet an Old Visitor?

is the Comet an Old Visitor?
Astronomy is usually reckoned an
exceedingly exact science, and in most
of its methods and the great mass Of its
ascei tanned facts it is exact, yet. as the
conflicting theories and calculations
about the great comet now visible show,
some departments of the sciente are
subject to astonishing uncertainty The
Opposing views of the astronomers as to
the orbit Of the present comet and the
question OF its identity with the great
comets CT 1880 and 1S43 are likely to
lead some persons to Look upon the
whole subject with incredulity. The
trouble, however, is not that the astron-
omers are no better than so many
weather prophets dealing in guess work
and humbuggery, but that in case like
this it is exceedingly difficult to obtain
trustworthy data to serve as basis for
the application of mathematical for
mul@. What the astronomers are able
to do when there is the least solid
ground to base their calculations upon
is shown by the surprising success of
their predictions of the successive re.
turns of Halley's comet, which has a
period of some seventy.five years, and
is subject to rsrte rbing fo. ~, :, iii it
requires an amazing process of calcula.
ton to disentangle. In the present
case, the question of interest is whether
this comet has ever been seen in the
neighborhood Of the sun before.
The computations made at Washing
ton have been regarded as going far
toward identifying it with the comets
of 1880 and 1843, which, in turn, have
been supposed to be the same as the
comet of 1868. If these great comets
are all one and the same, ana if Il Q
dates mentioned comprise every visit
that this comet has paid to the sun
since it was first seen, then, manifestly,
its period is growing shorter at mar
velous rate. and we may expect it to
end it's career by falling into the sun
very shortly. The possible effects of
the fall of a comet upon the sun have
been frequently discussed of late, though
the idea that such an accident might
prove disastrous to the earth is not a
new one, having been entertained by
Newton 200 years ago. Some months
ago when there was good deal of talk
about Mr.. Proctor's suggestion of what
the ''menacing comet" of 1880, as he
styled it, might do, Professor Young
expressed the hope that if it did fall
into the sun he might live to see it.
That is probably the feeling of most
astronomers. The downfall of comet
into the fiery furnace of the sun might
furnish fine spectacle, but would not
be likely to hurt the earth.
There is reason to think, however,
that if the orbit of the present comet
proves to be identical with that pursued
by the comets of 1880 and 1S43, it is
not the same body. If it is the same
body, then either it has very short
period and has been invisible at most of
it's visits, or it's period has been reduced
in the surprising way before mentioned.
The improbability of such reduction
is so great that even those who think it
is the same comet prefer to believe its
period has always been short, and that
it has only occasionally been seen when
visiting the sun. But in view of the
observed orbits of the comets of 1S43
and. 1880, this is very improbable. The
comet of 1843 was seen for more than
six weeks after its perihelion passage,
and that of 1880 was visible for several
weeks. It is not likely that comet OF
such brilliancy could often swing around
the sun, blazing with the splendor
resulting from its extraordinary close
approach to the great luminary without
being detected. Upon the whole, then
it is more likely that this comet is a
body following the same path as that
pursued by the comets of 1843 and 1880,
and the fact that its perihelion passage
seems to have been made at distance
certainly not less and probably greater
than theirs is another argument against
tie supposition that it is the same comet,
whirling about the sun in a rapidly mar.
rowing orbit preparatory to its fall.
japanese Houses.
A Japanese house is really a double
affair. The most expense is put into
the roof, which is OF splendid heavily
tile in all the towns and villages. On
the isolated farm houses straw thatch is