New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-09-23
THE COMING COMET.
PROFESSOR CHANDELIERS CALCULATIONS,
BRooKss COMET SHOWN TO Be IDENTICAL WIN
THAT OF 1912.


BRooKss COMET SHOWN TO BE IDENTICAL WIN
THAT OF 1912.
To the Edftor Of The Trtbuns.
SIR, In view Of the public interest mani
tested In the appearance of each Of the bright come
which visited US in 1881 and 1882 have thouahts
might not appear amiss to give some facts with r,
to this subject There exists now little reason !
doubt that the anxiousy looked for return OF ths oo
Of 1912 has become accomplished fact and that =.
have, in the faint and minute nebulosity dscoyere8 h.
Mr. W. r. Brooks on September g. thu sam.
object which Pons found on July 20, 1912 ana
which was seen for the last time toward the end \
September Of that year. To the Rev George M sea,,
formerly Of the Harvard College Observatory bsons
the credit Of first calling attention this Identity ann y
assigning the 25th Of next January az the tin. -
periheon passage On the receipt Of his letter "a ne
brother Professor Arthur sesrle. examined the uat,.
/ not only agree with his view. but from data ma
available to him. convinced that proof Of idr,,,
is nearly complete that only the calculation OF an
accurate elliptic orbit from sufficiently long seres a
observations of Brooks's comet add materially =
the strength of his hypothesis.
The nature OF the proof at present at hand may be In
dcated to the general reader follows: Our presept
knowledge enables to assign very closely the position
Of the elliptic path described by the 1912 comet spac
but not at all exactly the particular point Of that pa
which the comet has rel ched at any given moment
Now to ascertain definitely whether any newly appear
ing comet is that of 1872 must first project the lin
OF direction in which 1t appears, from the eart
into space. If this line passes inside or outside Of a
ellipse, the stranger cannot be the 1912 comet
but II 1t intersects II, both bodies may N
| IDENTICAL and further tests must be applied
before deciding. On the assumption that tie
paths are the same, We can, from the known laws
cometary motion. assign the time when the comet mus
occupy other point in the orbit as for instance the
perihelion or the point nearest the Then II We
have second observation Of the comets position taken
considerably before after the first the agreement Of
the actual with the theoretical place computed from the
assumed periheIion will confirm the assumed identity
of paths but necessarily the identity of the comets
which may still be different bodies following each Other
| In the same orbit II, however. the old comet
is known to approximately in that part Of its path
where the new one is travelling, the presumption that
they the is very strong aud IL the coincidence
| is very close the presumption becomes almost GER
tanty The possibility still exists, however. that the
| paths may be ellipses Of different forms. which
nearly touch each other along those portions whers
the comet is SEEM and that at distant points there
may he wide divergence Now, In the case OF Brooss
comet computation shows that its path comedies WITH
| that OF 1912. From the observation made at this
| Observatory on the 9th inst. I find that,
assuming 1t to be moving in the Orbit
OF 1872 the perihelon will be passed 1854, January
| Of
other elements for the 1912 comet the theo-
retca places on the 81 and the 10Th Of September hs
first and last dates of Observatory compare with tie
| observed places, as follows:
Cambridge MT. Observed Place. Theoretical Place
s.nremOer IS Is s. 15s tsi AIS 10 IS lsl te4 4ss
September H. 10 % 32S t6 $50 10 70 $50 t6l IA
The beng September 90 sec, 70 MN sep.
| TENDER ~, OF sec, 0o min.
Probably avery slight correction of the assumed tina
OF periheou aud taking into account some small quan'
ties ignored calculation, would cause these sshs
differences to disappear The date OF perlheion 1884
| January 1913, lies almost midway between 1883,
May the time of return predicted By Encke and 1884
September that given By schulhofs later inyestgs:
ton Tie assumption Of the elements OF the comet Oi
| 1910 for ths Brooks comet will satisfy the actual
nh of the latter lar closer than orbit that has yct
been derived from observation. conclude, then, tna
we NAV regard the identity OF these comets Us prac
| tically certain. -, .,,....
propose as soon sufficient data have been collected,
TO calculate an elliptic orbit for Brookss comet Mean
while we may take tue best available elements tos
| following:
Periheliou Passage, 1884, jan rs. $50 Or MT
Lon gitude peri heiion <c'S( ,oo,o
| Longitude node ~S~-'S
| Inclination. -
Perfection distance d.eSSy
| EcCentricty
From these have calculated the path OF the comet N
the heavens up to the time Of its disappearance from
our sky next February. aud subjon the following