The Waco evening news. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 1891-1894, 1892-05-21
1t Is Visible at $50 O'Clock a. m. in
the East.
1T HAS EIGHT AND A HALF TAILS
Aud Goes where and when IL
PIeases and Fast or slow as IL
Chooses-Gct UP and See Ii i'm the
Eas, Above the Horizon.

the sky clear and without any notice
able haze you viii! do well TO get up
on some high place and look toward
the eastern horizon. The constellation
Pegasus will be just clear of the hori.
ION and you will make out its four
bright stars in a trapezium several
larger than the bowl of the Great
Dipper. Near the uppermost star you
will make out a small comet, which if
looked at with pair OF strong opera
glasses, will show several tails. This
is Swlft's comet, named from Prof.
Swift, of Rochester, who discovered it
several months ago. And it has one
peculiarly which deserves attention
and should make it interesting even
to scientific eyes.
This comet does not belong to our
system, and in all probability never
before saw our sun or our planets in
all the countless years of its existence.
A few months ago it was journeyiDg
leisurely through space, jogging along
with no particular business on land.
Our system hove in sight on It's tori-
ION, aud, thanks to the law of gravita-
ton, our sun compelled it to pay us
visit and show us its peculiarities.
But it came upon our system in
such a way that it can never come
again. For it showed plainly that it
disapproved of being dragged into
making this visit at all, and passed
around the sun as far away as posi-
BILE following route which would In.
sure its never coming hereafter. Mr..
Swift was the first to catch sight Of
the fretful wanderer, and then Prof.
Barnard of the Lick Observatory made
some photographs showing what a
freak 1t was.
These photographs have eight tails.
This is more than the six-tailed comet
of l744, which was the most profuse.
ly decorated comet before this one.
Some of these tails are straight, show.
ing them to be of hydrogen or some
other light substance, while others are
curved like cimetar. showing them
to be of heavier substance. All these
things have been seen before, how
ever. What makes this comet such
a freak is the fact that from one Of
its tails, long way out from the
head, smaller tail shoots away at a
sharp angle,
Now it is easy enough to explain
straight tails and curved tails, but nc
one has yet come forward with a
theory which will explain this ta.l
that leaves tail. Just where this
twig, as it were, leaves the branch
there is kind of kuot something like
the head of another and smaller comet
although it is certainly not that,
Whatever may be the explanation
of the mystery, the visitor is exceed
ingly interesting. We are rather
blase on the subject of comets. AL
sorts of comets have come to see US,
and several have come and liked it sc
well that they have stayed. We
have passed through the tail of a
comet, and we have found out thai
even if one struck US full tilt, we
would suffer no inconvenience. Nov
along comes this fellow with his tai
that sends out tail just to let every
body know that comets are not Sc
easy after all.
This wanderer having passed around
the sun is now on his way into the
utmost depths of space, leaving won
der and amazement in scientific
minds. While he was passing
around the sun, he of course got up a
very lively rate of speed, several hun
dred miles a second. But now that
he is safely away from that fiery at
traction, he is taking things a goot
deal easier, although he is still GO
ing at pretty good gait, perhapl
fifty miles second.
A man who was talking about comets
the other day was saving what a quee
thing it would be if some one who
away off in the outskirts Of the solal
system was to have comet pass hi
door going slow and easy because S,
far away from the sun. And suppose
this man were to step aboard for q
jaunt through space. His come
would gradually go faster and taste
as it got near the sun, until i: would
get up speed of say 800 miles a sec
ond; and finally, as it was passin,
around, just shaving the great shoot
Ing flames that dart hundreds of thou
sands of miles into snnnn frnnn III