Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-26
EPHENsRIS.

Febrdary Is. 1884. 1 10 81 8. 80 IS 8 1884
the 6righte-t at discovery being taken as unity
BY the figures of Mr.. Chandler It is known
that the comet will be at its nearest point to the
earth about the middle Of January. 1884, at
which time 1t will be distant about sixty mill
lions of miles. 1t will then be about six mag
nitudes brighter than when discovered and
Will be certainly visible to the naked eye. A
comparison OF the conditions then exist
ing with those Of the comet Of 1912. when
near perihelion. shows that the present
comet will be three or four times brighter.
The comet will be visible In the northern hemi-
sphere for some months to come, affording an
excellent opportunity for a long series Of obser-
vations. As soon as sufficient data have been
secured an elliptic orbit will be published; for
the computation Of which positions from obser-
vatories are requested. All the Information
which has been obtained here has been forward
ed to the European astronomers by cable. ac-
cording to the recent arrangements for interna-
tiOnal communication. of which Harvard Obser-
vatOry Is the center for this country. The re-
| appearance Of one Of the short period comets is
now expected by astronomers. Comet Temple,
which has been observed in 1873 and In 1878
An orbit by Schulhof places the time of perihe-
lion passage at about October Goth OF the present
year.
WHAT PROF. PARKHURST SAYS.
Prof. Boss has caught me mapping. For the
last two or three years have been sweeping
tor the comet Of 1912, whose path I had COM
puted, and have been in the habit Of comparing
the position Of every newly discovered comet
with that path. Had not forgotten to do this
l should have at once seen that the Brooks
comet is indeed the long expected Pons comet
OF 1912. and announced 1t In my communication
OF the 9th instant. My general idea of the orbit
Ofthe Brooks comet is sustained. but the comet
itself Is larger than the average, and will be
likely to be visible to the naked eye with q
short tail, for few weeks about Christmas
time.
Messrs. Schulhof and Bossert published a
year ago an ephemeris to assist In the search
for this comet, founded upon computations
made by them Of its orbit; but Professor
Brooks has found 1t at q greater distance from
the sun than the greatest distance in the ephe-
meris. Encke had found q period OF TOT
years. which would have brought 1t back in the
| spring Of this year. Messrs. Schulhof and Bos-
sert obtained from their elaborate investigation
! period Of q Is years. and found that the per-
turbations Of the larger planets would accele-
rate its return by AS days. Accordingly they
predicted its return to the perihelion on Sep
| TENDER 8, 1884. subject to an uncertainty Of IS
| years. The actual return will not vary much
| from January 25 18S4-less than eight months
| from the predicted time.
| For the three revolutions prior to 1919 the
comet was not seen, probably because it is in
| favorable position for observation only when 1t
passes Its periheliOn between August and Feb
| ruary. 1t is in the most favorable position
when it passes its periheliOn about December
90 and fortunately It varies only about month
from that time at this return. Passing its peri
helion In September it was barely visible to the
naked eye for a short time with tail two de-
grees in length. It is likely to be much more
conspicuous this time. although it is unlikely
that the tail will exceed five degrees i'm length.
This comet belongs to group. of which Hal
ley's Oilers, De VicOs, BrOrsen's and West
phal's are members: all of which have period
Of ahpnt m fho
| sun about to the distance of the planet Neptune
which may have been brought into their present
orbits by the influence of that planet. Kirk
wood has called attention to the remarkable re-
| that OF De VicO, the principal difference being
! the transportation Of the nodes. from which he
| concludes that they had a common origin.
The course of this comet through the heavens
will be as fOllows:-It is now very near Eta Dra-
cOnis, and has reached the limit Of its westerly
| notion 1t will move slowly toward the south,
curving toward the east, toward the head OF
Draco through which 1t will pass during the fore
part of November. BY that time 1t will be
easily visible i'm a small telescope Thence
passing southeasterly it will be north of Lyrs
early in December. From December IL to the
22d it will be passing along the arms Of
the cross in Cygnus. In January it will enter
Pegasus, and before the end Of January it will
| finally sink below our horizon In the tail Of
Cetus. Its greatest brilliancy will be early in
January. During Its whole course it will be
visible in the evening; first in the northwest, at
| about the elevation Of the pole star gradually
sinking toward the horizon as 1t moves south
ward. and finally sinking below the south
western horizon. The orbit will soon be more
| exactly computed and ephemerides prepared
for the use of astronomers; but the above
| derived from the orbit in 1919, will not vary
| materially from the truth.
HENRY NJ PARKHURsr.
New York, Sept. 81, 1883.
WHAT Ais THE c0MEr3
telegram from Boston. September @. saws:
"From observations at the Harvard College OBJ
servatory Of the returning comet Of 1912, it ap-
pears to have experienced an extraordinary out
burst of light within the last twenty-four hours.
| amounting. according to Mr.. Chambers esti-
| mates, to an increase of six or eight times its
previous brilliancy. The general aspect Of the
comet also has entirely changed From diffuse
nebulOsity with faint nucleus. 1t has suddenly
become q starke object. Both Mr.. Searie and
Mr.. Chandler recognize q faint short brush OF
light toward the east, apparently indicating the
| formation Of q tail.
Lovely Maiden Abducted In Georgia
From the Conyers Weekly
Two weeks ago James d. Blalock, of Clay
| ton county, moved into the Cut-OH, bringing
with him his family, consisting Of his wife, q
boy I'VE years old and q daughter, Miss Beat
rice. about grown. She Is very pretty. well