The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-05-17

and 1O0 by Saturn. the comet would re-
turn to perihelion on the 18th of April,
1883. and that it might at any moment
be detected on its way to perihelion. I'M
medlately the astronomers OF Europe be-
gan to search for the comet, but, singu-
larly enough, they were all beaten by a
farmer, John Palitsch, living near Dres-
den, who, having provided himself with
small telescope was cultivating astron-
omy on his own account, and obeying the
| injunction of Virgil:
Nor must the ploughman less observe
the skies
When the Kids, Dragon and Arcturus
rise.
| Palitsch discovered the comet on the
night of Dec. as, 1885, The professional
astronomers followed more than three
weeks later, and even after they found
the comet 1T the Observatory of Paris,
on the 21st of January, 1859. they kept
| the fact a secret, not knowing that the
unpretenuious farmer-astronomer had
SO completely distanced them that they
were no longer in the race. 1t may be
| said in Justice to the astronomers that
| those at Paris, at any rate, were much
| troubled by cloudy weather in their
search for the comet. The perihelion
passage occurred on the 18th of March,
one month earlier than the time predict-
ed. But in announcing the result of the
calculations made by Lalande, Nine.
Lepante and himself, Clairault had re
marked that the comet might come to
perihelion month earlier, or month
| later, than the predicted time, because
| they had unavoidably neglected in their
calculations certain sources ofdisturbance
that would affect the comets motion.
After it's perihelion the comet presented
4 a fine appearance.
The next return was due in 1885. AS
early as 1917 the astronomers began to
bestir themselves in order that the
! be more accurately foretold than it
had been in 1859. Baron Damoiseau
won prize by his calculations, which
| liked the return of the periheIion for
! November 4, 1885, Pontecoulant predict
| ed that the return would occur week
later than the time set by Damoiseau.
But Prof. Rosenbergre, of Halle, made
| the most elaborate calculations of all,
and his prediction named November II,
as the critical date. Besides allowing
for the influence all the great outer
| planets, except Neptune, which had not
then been discovered, Rosenberger
found that the attraction of the earth
would shorten the comets inbound
/ journey Is 2-3 days; that of Venus 5 1-3
days, and the combined attraction of
/ Mars and Mercury one day. An outlook
was begun for the approaching comet
/ nearly a year in advance of the predicted
| time of it's perihelion passage. Sir John
| Herschel, then at the Cape of Good Hope
| with his huge telescope. Joined in the
| watch. But the comet did not come in
| to view until the 9th of August 1885,
| when it was seen from the observatory
1 at Rome. 1t became visible to the
| naked eye late in September; then a
| tail was developed, and during October
it was watched slowly sweeping, with
constantly increasing splendor, across
| Ursa Major, Hercules and Ophiuchus,
down to it's perihelion meeting with the
sun. The perihellon passage occurred
on November 16, five days later than the
time predicted by Prof. Rosenberger
| The appearance of the head of the comet
| in October excited the establishment of
all observers On October Prof. Strive
described it as resem bling 1.-THE stream
| OF fire which issues from the lannon's
mouth after discharge, when the sparks
are driven backward by a violent wind. !"
/ Some drawings that were made of the
| tail show that it assumed, at times, the
most extraordinary forms. After its
| perihelion the comet was watched re-
treating out into space until May, 1885,
sight. 1t will be in perihelion again
about 1911, but with the great telescopes
now in existence, and the greater ones
| that may then have been constructed,
| it is probable that the comet will be de-
tected coming sunward year or more
earlier than that. The fact that the
labor of computing the precise time of
/ its return is already about to begin
| gives assurance that the next time it
| will not be question of how many
1 hours, or even minutes the calculations
will be in error.
Halley's comet travels around the sun
| in direction contrary to that in which
| Ivr
suppose, then, that it originated out of
the same nebuloUs mass from which the
/ sun and planets were created. We are
rather led to believe that it must have
| come into our system from outer space
and that the influence of Neptune, per-
| haps, has been effective in making it Il
permanent member of the retinue of the
sun, but still only an adopted member,
whose foreign organism is indicated by
| it's independence of the great law Of revo-
luton that 10 planet disobeys.
Now that astronomers have undertaken
the prediction of the exact period of it's
| return it will be in teresting to see who
| will first complete his calculations and
who will hit nearest to the mark. And
those of us who actually see the great
comet on it's return will surely find iU
doubly interesting, because it Is like a
slowly revolving hand upon the dial of
history. 1t passed across the sky twelve
|
passed again when Nero was Emperor:
again when the first Of the Antiones had
just begun his pacific reign; again when
the Goths were preparing to attack
Rome, and yet again in the days of
Qiocletian. The advancing Huns be-
held it's transit in the year 373; and it
was blazing in the sky when their great
King Attila was defeated at Chalons in
81. Belissairus may have watched it as
it swung across the heavens just after
he had begun his victorious career in
$50. 1t passed again while Mohammed
was still worshipping the idols of his
fathers in Cos. The world saw the great
index in the armament again in 6s4.
in 760, in 837, in 912 and $780, 1t was on
the noon mark for William the Como uer-
or in 1866. 1t returned in 1145; in 1928
it was thought to have predicted the
death of Philip Augustus; in 1901 il was
watched with establishment from Iceland
to China; in 1873 Chinese and Europeans
once more recorded its transit il their
annals. We have seen how Islam and
Christendom were terrified by it in 1856
1t was back again in 1881 and 1907, and
| when, in 1852, il shone once more in the
| sky the man had come who was to raod