The Portland daily press., 1892-11-29
some FAMOUS COMETS MI
..-t! X W. E''
IS
Startling Wonders Of the Fiery
Comet Of '4s.

Its Curious Franks and Erratic> Course
Grazes the Sun. Threatens the Earth,
Then Turns Tail and Flees to Parts
Unknown-Descri of it's Interest
ing Phenomena-Some Other Notable
Cometic Visitors
BRIDGToN, November %.
Queer things are comets. Yea, and
their ways are past finding out.
And the queerest and most remark
able of these celestial travellers seen in
the present century was the great comet
of 1913. Long" is perhaps the more
correct adjective, since its length was
prodigious, it's tail being of VISIBLE
length of one hundred and eight mil
lions of miles. In fact, it was apparent
ly nearly all tail, it's head, being scarcely
distinguishable; which called forth from
Bessel the sententious remark that this
comet seemed to have exhausted it's
head in the manufacture of it's tail"
And such speedy fellowl Modern
evolution has brought horse-going down
% a minimum, but it is doubtful if the
speed Of this airy traveller can ever be
beat. At one time, when seen at noon,
two diameters of the suns disk east of
the SIM, while passing its perihelion, and
bein4 then only &c. 900 miles distant from
that 1uminary, its speed was $50 miles
per second; SO that in - minutes it
must have passed over a space equal to
the distance between the earth and the
moon. When far enough from the sun
to be seen after sunset, its appearance
was, magnificent. This comet, in fact,
almost grazed the sun. and to say that
in so doing it became red hot, is no hy-
perbole, but the simple fact. On the
2sth of February it was as red as blood,
and for some days after it's perihelion
it retained peculiar fiery appearance.
According to the computations of Her
SC ell, the heat it received must have
been 1900 times that received by the
earth from a vertical sun! The rays of
the sun united in the focus of a lens 81
inches in iameter, and six feet eight
inches focal length, have melted carne-
Ian, agate and rock crystal. The eat
to which the comet was subjected must
have exceeded by 20 times that in the
focus of such lens. Such a temper
allure -would have converted into vapor
almost every substance on the earth's
surface; and if anything retained the
solid form, it would be in a state of
intense ignition. The brilliancy OF this
comet, in the opinion of Prof. LOOMS,
was due to its proximity to the sun.
The advance of this comet of '43 pro-
duced decided sensation. 1t was seen
in the day time even before visible at
night, and. BY its peculiar and almost
marvellous characteristics, fairy startled
the world. Multitudes at first mistook
it for the zodiacal light, while many saw
in it the foreboding of some mighty
disaster. Its interesting appearance and
movements, as described by Loomis,
Futile, Encke, Maury, Herschel, Joslin,
Bond Hitchcock, Walker, Kendall,
Bessel and other astronomers, may be
thus summarized:
The appearance at first was that of
luminous globular body with a short
train, the whole taken together being
found by measurement about one degree
in length The head of the comet, as
observed by the naked eye, appeared cir
cular, its light at that time equal to that
of the moon at midnight in clear sky,
and it's apparent size about one-eighth
the area of the full moon. Some observ-
ers compared it to small cloud strongly
Illuminated by the sun. The train was
of a polar light, gradually diverging
from the nucleus and melting away into
the brilliant sky. As seen in some locali-
ties the tail was divided near the nucleus
into two separate branches. The comet
was seen in both hemispheres, but in no
place more than few days at time. 1t
was brilliant enough to throw strong
light upon the sea. By one observer it
was described as an elongated birch rod,
slightly curved and having breadth of
upward, though very noticeable, scarcely
exceeded two degrees. A great many
astronomers computed the comets orbit,
and obtained most extraordinary results.
Its nearest approach to the earth was
about so, O00, 900 miles. The absolute di
ameter of the nebuloSity surrounding
the head was about So, 900 miles. At the
equator it looked like a stream of mott
en- fire. Everywhere the visitor present
ed distinct and most beautiful appear
ance.
In brief, the remarkable comet APP
peared in the early part of the spring !;
swept through the heavens for several
weeks, with a luminous train more than
loo, ZOO, 900 miles long, almost hit the sun
as it whirled around that orb with ire
mendous velocity, dashed towards the
earth with fearful momentum, giving the
nervous and the superstitious a first
class scare, then suddenly changed its
mind and it's course, and, whisking its
tail at us in naughty disdain, darted
away and disappeared in the unknown
realms of space.
There have been comets and comets.
But since the dawn of this century only
five have appeared of marked note.
In 1907 there was comet seen, flick
efing and evanescent.
In 1911, another, the finest seen for
scores of years, first-class in its magni-
tude and brilliancy, visible to the naked
eye for more than three months in sue
cession.. Its tail reached length OF
123, 100000 miles, and was 15,oOO,0 900
miles in breadth. Its nearest approach
to our globe was al, 100000 miles, as
shown by Professors Bowdich, Farrar
and Fisher, who accurately computed the