The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-09-27
STUDYING THE COMET,
The observations Made Daring The Past
Week ut Washington.

d. .|ra "eeA NJ HhhutnEtons
WASHINGTON, September 26.-The obser-
vations Of the comet at the Naval 0bserva.
tory during the past week were taken as a
part Of the regular professional duty OF the
astron otners stationed there, and without
reference to tho theories put forth by Prof.
Boss, although, happily, they strongly tend
10 their verlhcation. The, elements OF the
present comet, US stated on the o2d inst,
were calculated by Professors risky md
Skinner but as stated at that time were
not final and complete rs now. The fol.
lowing telegram has been sent by Com.
manaer Simpson, assistant superintendent
Of Tho Naval Observatory, 10 the as
tronomers OF Europe, rs embodying the
conclusions Of the naval astronomers:
Elements Of Ceul's comet. Time Of per.
ilieion passage September II, noon; Wash.
ington time. Longitude OF pcrihelion 57o,
%, 0SM. Longitude Of node 3400, 2G>, IN.
Inclination OF orbit l42', III, iGM. Peri.
helion distance eighty.six ten thousandths
Closely resembling comet OF 1880. 8,
The difference between the figures here
given Of the inclination Of the orbit and
those stated in the article OF the 29d is due
to the lact that the supplement Of the an
gle was then given instead OF the inclina.
tion. These elements were computed from
the three following observations made by
Professors Frisby, Skinner and Winlock on
September 10, % and q: Expressed astro-
nomieally, September 1911, 2h.; 49,, 1881.
Washington mean time, right ascension,
llh., l9m., 3Ss.S; declination, Y o., 34wS.
September the meridian, right ascension,
llh., lin, 100, on 1891; declination, ,-0o,
81, 2SN.5. September 2O9, on the mcrid.
imp, right ASCENSION, llh., 09n., lOs.07;
was agaiu observed early this morning
through thin clouds with the following re.
suit: Right ascension, l0h., 5Sm., Is;
declination-3o, or, 5T. 1t is rapidly be.
coming fainter. SO ,hat it was not seen TO-.
day with the meridian Instruments, al.
though the conditions were tolerably favor.
able. -@g.. -. r.
In brief interview with Commander
Sampson the following explanations Of the
foregoing observations and additional in.
formation were obtained: From the ele.
mcnls above given it will be seen that the
comet passed at distance Of 79l 900 miles
(rouehly computed at 100000 miles on the
oed) from the sun, which is less than the
diameter Of the sun and probably the near.
est approach made by any comet yet OBJ.
served. It's more than probable, however,
that many Of the comets which approach
nearest the sun are never visible. The very
fact Of their near approach 10 the sun, ai-
though it brings them near the earth, de
creases the chances Of seeing them. Many
readers will recall the fact that during the
total eclipse on May II lust, observed
in Upper Egypt, large comet was seen,
and even photographed near the sun
while it WAS eclipsed. Two photographs of
the comet were taken while the sun was
in eclipse within minnie and a.half OF
each other. Yet short rs was the interval;
it was sufficient to show that the comet
was moving away from the sun. Seneca
relates that a similar observation was made
sixty-three years before the Christian era,
when, during total eclipse Of the sun a
large comet was seen near it. We may
therefore fairly infer that many OF these
splendid meteors visit our system without
becoming visible to us. As comets are
liable to undergo great changes, it becomes
impossible to identify them by their ap.
pearance. The spcctroscope may yet fur.
nish the means Of Identification, as on the
occasion OF the first appearance Of this
comet it served TO determine the direction
in which it was moving.
On the other hand the plane in which
comet moves is not liable to any consider.
able change, and it, therefore, becomes
possible to identify them by their path in
the heavens. Comparing the elements Of
this comet with those Of the comet Of 1880,
they are found to be so nearly alike as to
warrant the belief that the comets are
identical. The comet is moving in direc.
tion little south Of west and away from
the earth, and will soon be invisible.
Those who will rise before the sim may
still see il, under favorable conditions,
about one hour west or higher than the
sun, and a tritle south Of it. g