Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-12-01
Look Out for that Comet.
Its Fiery Tail May Give the Earth "a Prett
Close Shave.

Its Fiery Tail May Give the Earth "a Pretty
Close shave.
The great comet, which astronomers
tell US Is rushing towards the earth, has
now come into the field of vision so that
1t may be seen with the naked eye, and II
their predictions be correct 1t will be the
most conspicuous object In the heavens,
this week. The comets position ut pres
ent Is In the constellation Andromeda
That Is the way the scientists indicate its
whereabouts TO each other, and brief ex-
animation OF an slmanac will enable any
amateur astronomer to readily find it,
ln the early part Of the evening It is al
most directly overhead. near the zenith
where it can easily be detected with the
aid Of good field glass, and It's position
once known it can easily be found with the
naked eye. 1t has travelled millions Of
miles since 1t was discovered on the even
ing OF Nov. 9th. Since that time all the
leading astronomers, both here and in Eu-
rope. have turned their telescopes upon it,
The observations of the comet in the
United States have been numerous, and in
New YORK Prof. Harold Jacoby and Others
at the Columbia College Observatory
nave devoted much study to its movements
Some excellent work has also been done
at the Harvard Observatory, Cambridge,
Mass. There the professors have made
several successful attempts to photograph
1t. 1t Is not yet quite sure that 1t is the
famous Biela comet. nor have they been
able to calculate just how close shave it
will give the earth.
Bnt whether the present comet Is Biela's
or an entirely new one, no doubt is enter
talned OF It's immense size and that 1t will
come very close TO the earth. The exact
period Of time and the distance which will
separate them are unknown, and it is even
possible that, as Prof klnkerfues pre-
hlcted In 1872. the two bodies may come
10 contact. Such contingency has often
been considered In the astronomical world.
Some scientists believe that Biela's comet
did not explode of its own volition iu ls45.
but assert that in its wild flight through
space 1t must have struck star and ric-
ochetted of towards the earth, and that
the force Of the collision broke 1t all up
Gregory. Laplace and Winston have shown
what would be the effects of such con-
tact IN the case of the earth, and the as
sertion has been made that it was the CON
junction of the earth with a comet which
caused the deluge.
IF the tail OF comet" say. Gregory
reached our atmosphere, or ii any part Of
the matter which composes that tail spread
over the heavens and tell upon 1t by It's
own weight, the resulting tfiiuva would
work material changes for man and plants
for 1t Is indi~putable that var ors brought
from regions so distant and strange, and
excited by so mighty heat would be dead
ly to everything on earth and would occa-
sion the direct calamities.
These, however, are merely speculations
upon remote contingency. While 1t would
be possible for the earth and the comet or
It's tail, u come into collision, it is regard
ed a. extremely improbable that any such
thing viii happen. Experience has shown
that Blelas comet would get the worst of
1t II 1t came too close, and that the chances
for meeting between the two are very
slender AT the same time. as the two have
TO pass the same given spot on the night
OF the 2Ith. the race may produce some in
teresting results. In hnding the comet
with the naked eye its Distinguishing red
dish color should be remembered
Calculations made at the Dudley obser-
vatory in Albany Indicate that the Holmes
comet Is not Identical with the comet of
Biela and Will not come near the earth 1t
appears almost certain that the distance
of the comet from the earth is increasing.