Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-11-25

History OF 1ts Previous Apprenticeship
Division In 10lS.

History OF Its Previous Appearances-Iti
Division In 1845.
From the Philadelphia Ledger
Should the announcement be true that ,
newly discovered comet Is indeed Biela's comet
II win be IN interesting termination to IN in
teresting history.
It's arst appearance was in l772, when Mon.
taigne, at Limoges, France, caught several par.
tial glimpses.
In 1906 1t was rediscovered, also in France
finally seen by the naked eye and elliptic ele
ments computed.
In 1926 N. Biela. in Bohemia, found fain'
comet and established Its identity with those Of
1772 and 1905 He found that it had a period
Of a little over six years, and predicted its re.
turn to the earth on November 81, 1882. Il
was found that the comet would pass within
e, 600 miles Of. the earth's orbit, and though
the earth would no. be In that point for q
month after the comet, vet considerable ex.
element and fears Of earthly demolition as the
result of a collision existed in the popular
mind. 1t came punctually, as predicted, but
no serious results followed.
Its next approach was unobserved as 1t came
in the daytime and remained close to the sun.
In 1S45 it returned as a well-conducted come,
should do, but while telescopes were stii ex-
amining it it parted in twain. and before it had
disappeared it's components had separated to O
distance Of 150, 900 miles.
In 1852, when seen again. the separation had
increased to $50 900 miles. and practically two
comets existed, pursuing separate orbits, where
one had been before.
Again, in 1859, it was invisible by reason OF
the sunlight, but the return Of 1865 was looked
forward to with great interest to determine
what changes had taken place in the thirteen
years interval But, though the elements had
been carefully calculated, and many telescopes
awaited its coming, Bielas comet did not ap.
pear. No traces which could certainly be
identified as this comet were discovered. Or
November "a there was q meteoric shower
and, on the strength of this, q German astrono.
mer telegraphed to Madras: "Biela touched
earth on 9th; search near Theta Centauri ,
The receiver Of the telegram looked. as directed
and saw comet, which could hardly have beer
the missing one
There is no certain evidence that Biela' g
comet has been seen since 1882 unless the pres.
emit one should be the lost wanderer, but every
year. as November 81 draws nigh, a shower Of
meteors. coming from tine very point in the
constellation from which Biela's comet is due
PLENTIFUL but not very brilliant, falls toward the
earth, while every sixth year, when the comet
would, in regular order, reach this portion OF
space, the shower becomes more abundant II
looks as if the separation had been carried fur
Their than dissection, and that the meteors were
which resulted from the scattering of the
cometary fragments Through some domestic
trouble" as Herschel says of another similar
case.
II, however. the comet has recovered itself
and is about to appear in undiminished bril-
liancy this assumption will have to be recon
sidered. A few good observations several DAYS
apart, made now, will enable astronomers to
recompute its orbit and retrace its devious
course for the past forty years. comet is a
comparatively light body. and when it ap-
proaches planet it is often caused to deviat "a
widely from its former orbit. If the planet is
in front OF it the velocity will be accelerated
and the ellipse of its orbit will be increased or
it may be thrown entirely away from our solar
system. never to return. If the planet ia be-
hind it its velocity will be retarded the ellipse
lessened, so that the revolution around the sun
is quickened. or, if it moved in parabola IAN
endless curve), this may be transformed into an
ellipse.
1t NAV therefore readily have happened
that Biela's orbit has been greatly trans
formed by its close visits to terrestrial neigh
borhoods.
1t will be observed that the part of the
heavens-viz, the constellation Andromeda-is
the quarter from which Biea ought to arrive
and that the date of closest pproach-Noyem-
Der 27-also seems to indicate our old friend.
STILL the behavior of comets is too cratic to
place much dependence on anything except
mathematical computations of their course
through space.