The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1882-09-27
,ar CELESTIAL STRANGER

IN. sar-Gayers Have to say of IL
ri ave YOU seen the new comet? ~ is the
,,.5'pcouestiou of the day just now, Those
~S,b,ye not seen il should make II their
ne, to 10 50, for it is worth seeing, 1t
49, w. NJ distinctly discerned about $50 a. m,
| The horizon, little south of east, with
~ 80 point,ng downward and its large
Hs,sH tail extending upwards. II can, be
.ssn 10 the best advantage oetWeenoo q. CLOCK
,pi sunrise. Il.
'nts III The comet completed by MIR. 5. G..
Ntr5lsr ir., at Harvard Observatory
v .Sont o'clock on the morning of the 22d,
~ upou the observation of Professor
Sa;ft of Cincinnati, OF the 18th instant at
together with that taken at 1880 p.
~ an The 10Th instant at Cambridge, and
Is,at n o'clock u. m, of the 10Th instant,
's"st Cambridge, is rs follows Time OF
sHrbslion passage 1882, August 80, . long,
y nerhehon I'll degrees, long Of
v,ja I73 degrees, inclination of orbit
y degrees, perihelion distance 100000
r,aSS At the time Of the first observation
Iacompt was about 36,00U01 miles from
@searth. and at the time of the three OBJ
ssrv,tionS 3 100000 miles. This cores
md 10 a rate of speed of 100000 miles a
s,v Assuming the above to be correct,
NE comet will approach within l5,0OO,OoO
niles OF the earth, being nearest in the
s sr,t part Of October, but then will only be
visible in the southern hemisphere.
When comet Wells, discovered by
Professor Wells, of Albany University,
last March, reached perihelion, May
~ if was SS,000O00 miles from
hat 10 90
isss near than that of the comet now visible
nv dayiight, whose distance from the sun
i: reported to be but three degrees and
fGy minutes. The people who were
alarmed lest comet Wells might dash
srainst the sun have therefore much
,reater reason to fear universal smash a
Ma result of collision between the new
comet and the sun. But comets have
heretofore approached very near the solar
body without disastrous consequences
Those Of 1865, 1850, 1913 and 1880 are said &c
have grazed the solar atmosphere, oil
passel through its outermost part.
The astronomers think they identity the
new comet with that of 1913, whose nearest
apprOaCh to the sun was almost precisely
tbedistance from the suuofthe comet which
has been discovered this week. The theory
has been broaChed that the time of revolu
ton Is leSSened at each return Of the comet
50 thatultimately the mysterious body will
plunge into the sun, with n velocity so ter
life that heat enough will he generated by
The concussiou to destroy life on earth
Astronomers will be interested to obsery,
whether the movement Of the new come
confirms the theory that it is gradual,
drawing nearer to the sun at each return
Those who are apprehen5iye of collision
during the present season may perhap
be cOnsoled by the knowledge that DR.
Howard Crosby teaches that according t,
Bible prophecy the end of the world is t.
be expected about the year 5000.
For the fifth time the phenomenon of
comet visible by daylight is presented Il
the world, the comets of i3 b. C., li02, 1853
and 1913 having been thus seen. A NOR
remarkable thing about the new come
than its being visible by daylight is its en-
daranCe Ofa temperature OF almost incOn
Ceiyabe intensity. Sir Isaac Newton est
mated the temperature to which the come
oil6SO was subjected to be 1000 times Il
great As that OF red-hot iron, but that come
was twice as far from the sun as that whC
can now be seen. 1t ought to be possibl
brthe astronomers to base some intercstin
CoDjeCureS as to the material of the come
upon the fact that the heat of the sun S
little affects it.