New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-09-21
RETURN OF AN OLD VISITOR.


PREpICTED.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 2O-In an interview
with Professor Lewis Boss the Dudley Observatory.
Albany information furnished about the great comet
lowering near the sun, which seems TO DC lmpor-
tant in the highest degree Professor Boss Ia now In
washin gon, and the eve OF his departure TOT sah
tago de Chill, where he is TO observe the transit OF
Venus in December next He says that he cannot now
give much attention his hypothesis. but from what
follows It cannot be doubted that the fullest powers OF
astronomers all over the world will be enlisted In the
solution OF a problem OF such startling sgnlncance AS
related by Professor Boss his hypothesis is briefly this
He believes that the comet which now see near the
sun is return Of the great comet discovered ny d.
Gould in South America on the 9TH OF February, 1880
He says led TO this suspicion III The nrst place oy
his efforts to suppose the present comet identical with
the one discovered Rio Janero by Crus on the 10Th
of September order thus identify the two objects
st was necessary suppose that the Crus comet When
discovered, was on its way to perihehon somewhere
about September Is 1t must have been oVepOwered ny
tie binding radiance Of the sun. and thus lost TO view
On the 18th OF September past its perhcon
OF such dazzling splendor as It emerged from
close proximity 10 the sun as to De
seen by several observers I'm is position
three or four degrees west OF the SUM- Thec was
now On it's return journey into space. On the 18TH NJ
noon was about eight degrees west from the sum- ana
stil going westward Assuming these facts To be 'rue
small In order fulfil these relations the comet must
have passed around the sun side close
as 10 almost Craze the surface These suppositon' were
established yesterday by rough calculations OF nature
which astronomers will readily comprehend
II occurred at TO Professor Boss that the orbit
which this comet must have IL It's identical with CruPss
comet is Of extraordinary character, and only paa
leed In its pin cpal features by the great comets
Of ls43 and 1880 Quite striking TO tue mind is the
foct fbofi ha ed al
bear striking resemblance to what is written OF the
present comet. The comets, together stand with
out parallel the only ones which have shown such
extraordinary brGncy in close proximity 10 the SUM-
On the day following perhion passage the lsl3 comet
was observed by Nj. Clark, OF Portland Ne. who used
Sc xtGnt for the purpose and found no difficulty IN
measuring the distance Of the comet from the sun
The same thing might have been done with the present
comet the 1cth OF experimentation was presumably
the day after Its perihelOn passage.
Astronomers now suppose That the Two
comets OF IS43 and 1880 are and the body
Their orbits resemble each other almost, or quite
within the of observation The lonsitudes OF the
nodes differ less than five degrees. Their periheuon
points situated less than degree apart ana Wheh
at pcrihelion the comets had nearly the same dis
lance that the difference may easily be attributed 10
errors Of calculation. This distance Is so small that
those comets have approached within less than
100 600 miles from the surface, and thus within
the SUMS atmosphere. OF this fact there can be no
doubt.
One fact has recently troubled astronomers great
deal If the two comets of 1S43 and 1880 are identical
then would suppose that great comet should pave
been visible in 1906, and repeatedly at intervals OF
about thIr,y years reckoning backward from
that date Since no such comets are recorded
if must be supposed either that the period OF this comet
was formerly very much greater than thirty-seven
wears or thai many ali Of the returns escaped obser
vation The former suppositon seems the more hkcy,
because with such a close approach to the sun the
comets progress must have been resisted by the solar
atmosphere through which passed. Tie elect OF TINS
would be to the duration between successive re-
turns the comet In geometrca ratio Thus II might
have been possible that the 1850 comet would revisit
the sun after much shorter interval than that which
elapsed between the visits OF S43 and 1880 In fact there
may have been more returns OF the lo45 comet
that date and 1880 Clausen computed aperlod
of about six years OF 1913 Sir John Her
schel argues genousy for short perocs varying from
seven to twenty-one years. Therefore 1t may not be
necessary to argue for such violent reduction OF the
period az that implied In bringing down an interval be-
tween returns from thiFty-seyen years to less than
three.
A CONCLUSION REACHED.
II is worth while therefore, to examine the question
whether the observations OF the present comet com
bined with discovery OF Crus on september 10 can
be reconced with the supposlton that this is return
OF the 1850 comet This been done to-day by Pro
lessor Boss with the starting result
Of an affirmative answer II must be I'M
derstood that a body subjected to the attraction
Of the sun alone describes about the sun an nvaraDe
plane Suppose immense material fat surface passed
through of the sum- and so placed that the
heavenly body in successive positions in Its orbit IL
found on the surface of this plane. That body would al
WAYS and forever aerward be found IN the surface OF
this plane unless disturbed by some force outside OF the
SUM- may say then, that we know the track IN space
lgn hon
ever 1t return just well we know the path nlwhich
bolt on the periphery a mill wheel must travel,
although we may know nothing about the uine III which
the wheel revoycs. The element OF tme' then Is me
unknown quantity. All we have to do IN investigating
the question OF identity between the present comet and
that OF 1880 is suppose the present comet to have
been at its perhellon at definite time and at the
Same distance from the was the comet OF 1880 at
its perihelon. The next thing to do to see where
comet travelling in the track OF the 1850 comet would
successive dates and then see how these calculated
places agree with those found on the same dates Tor the
comet We Will tor first guess suppose that
the Hypothetical comet moving on the track of that OF
on September IL. We find that the morn
ing Of september TO- at Rio Janeiro, 1t would
have been in right ascension h. and %
min. aud south decnation 30 min; Cruls saw tine
comet at h. and AZ MN and south declna9n deg,
ton. The hypothetical comet would be at the Right
min. about y. Washington time IL was actually
found at that time In ii h. ID min 80 sec ana north
deClnatiOn mln-tnAt is 10 say, WlIln icSb =
deg from the supposed position Al Paris noon OF sep
tember 49, the Hypothetical comet should have been
about deg. from the sun, and tha IA the exact
distance reported by the Paris observers in
the dispatch published yesterday. This accordance
is I'm the highest degree remarkable. When consider
the rough assumptions which il is founded, the rude
the reported observations and that the time OF
periheon passage assumed is only q first guess, We
NAV easily comparatively small differences
noted may be completely reconcied IN the 1nure es
pecaly when remember that the above calculations
are made for convenience the bGsis OF paraboc mo-
ton II this return OF the 1850 comet, the
track eptcal and that TO greater degree than 1t
was between lS43 and 1880.
END OF A BRILLIANT CAREER.
Professor Boss says: " have scarcely doubt in my
own mind that we actually witnessing a return Of
the great comets Of 1913 and 1880. believe that the
perihcon passage will he found 10 have occurred
hours previous Greenwich midnight Of the 18th,