Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-05
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own sphere of attraction, comet can scarcely fail
To abandon fragments Of its TAIL which the mass of
the cHrth, for cxample. may aferward appropriate.
Al any rate. such WAS the opinion Of Arago with
gard TO the dry fog of 1888.
This fog had not the qualities OF an ordinary fog
II was not damp and moist like the 5lammy fogs of
London Tie general color of The air was that of
dull dirty blue: distant objects were enveloped In
blue, misty haze and at the distance Of league
lndistinguishable. The sun, without brlliancy and
obScured by mist both Mt its rising and setting could
he looked Mt without dlZzling the eyes at MONDAY
a singular circumstance mentioned by Arago in
necon with this fog the fact that 1t seemed to
possess certain ploSphoric property. light of its
own Il find, at least in the accounts of OBJ
servers" he remarks, that It difuscd at mid
night, light which they compared to that of the
moon at It's full and which suhiccd to make objects
distinctly visible at distance of than two hun
dred yards"
The Dust and Ashes.
Was the earth plunged in the tail Of comet or
had 1t met with the fragments of cometary APP
pendage abandoned in space? But why, then was
the comet itself not visible? Could the dust and
ashes projected to distance and scattered far and
wide have been the cause of this phenomenon? Some
scientists assumed in order to explain the dry fog
of 1888, that it was caused 10y the diffusion of vol
canic cnders. as in the more recent of the
eruption Of Krakatoa in August, 1888 Tho descrip-
tionS of extraordinary optical phenomena, such
wonderful ruddy gOws at sunset and sunrise,
strange hues in which the sun and the moon were
occasionally tinted, were collected from numerous
places all over the world.
Everywhere remarkable appearances were noted
in the sky that winter from Lake Superior to TERRA
del Fuego, from the Gulf of Guinea to China, from
Panama to Australia. Strange halos often
occasionally blue green moons, and the
was goried by corona that had its origin in at
moSphere Wherever there Inhabitants with
sufficient Intelligence to note the unusual reports
were received of extraordinary manifestations wit
messed in the heavens.
When reflect thar explosion lnslgnih-
cant set in the Straits Of Sunda has Suiiced to adorn
the sunsets of every country EARTH what may we
not expect Il result Of passage for short
period through the train of Ilalleys comet? VIII 1t
be in the nature of peculiar glow in the sky In
the year .lSG1 or rain Of fire, celestial fireworks
Outrivaling the marvels recorded the magnificent
display Of mCtcOrS in the year 1898 when the shoot
Ing stars were said to have fallen thcky snow
flakes?
According to the ephemeris of Halley's comet, as
calculated by Mr. A. ID. c. Crommclin and Mr. d.
Smart the position Of the comet May 10 will be
right ascension oh 30m. los and dcclinaton l3 deg
3Sn The comet will then be in the neighborhood of
the constellation Gemini and the sets at four
teen minutes after and the comet between
half past eight and nine o'clock the probability is that
the splendor of the comet will fade in the twilight
There will be, however fine opportunity to observe
the comet under the most favorable conditions poss-
blc the total eclipse of the sun which takes place
May s, 1910 On that occasion. when the binding
glare of the sun is hidden for few moments by the
dark globe of the moon coming between the and
the earth it may be possible to Hallcy's comet
during tonlity. If so it should provide magnificent
spectacle for this is the most favorable of ali condi-
tOns for seeing Il comet