The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1909-10-06
Has Been on the Home Stretch
Thirty-Fight Years.
WILL ARRIVE VERY SOON NOW

Its Tail Is Likely to Be Shorter.
Frequently These Satellites Bump
Into Planets and Are Mashed. In
teresting Information About Sky
Wanderers Now and in the Olden
Times. Jupiter a Comet Catcher.
CAMBRIDGE, Wherever
astronomers live on this planet tele-
scopes are now pointed each night
toward that section of space from
which Halleys comet ordinarily
shoots into the limelight of the sun S
rays, to mystify the savant and to
brighten the savage
Even the proximity of Mars, with
the allurement of LoweIls bitches,
is not able to detract from the scien-
tific Satellite, which was reported
last week. Just when the bewhisk-
cred, or rather detailed, gent from
the regions beyond Neptune will
flash his searchlight and start down
the home stretch is now no problem.
History recalls, according to the
Harvard astronomers, that one IA
nous comet with an ironclad orbit
once fell down on it's schedule
When it put in a belated appearance
it was in two pieces, and it was all
broken to bits Since then this par
ticular comet has disappeared. Pos
-sibly the atmosphere of the earth
has absorbed a considerable share
of it.
Inbound For 80 Years.
But the chances that anything like
this had happened to Halley's COM
ct were dispeIled last week Accord
ing to the time table of the SCENT
lists it has been on the inbound track
for a small matter of SO years. The
last time it appeared in this part of
the solar system was in 1885 At
that time it was sight to behold
1t covered a big streak of sky, and
at night was no poor rival of the
milky way. After rounding the sun
with a flirt it started tail first for
the dark regions, and before it
stopped its outward journey it trailed
through space almost three billion
miles distant
Halley's comet has been known
and feared for some ages, but it was
not named until HALEY, who was
royal astronomer of England in
1882, witnessed one of it's visits and
watching its course calculated its or
bit. After that it was comparatively
easy to rake up the comets past.
It's first recorded appearance is IL
B. c. In 1866 it foretold the con-
quest of England by William the
Norman in 1928 it foretold the
death of Philip Augustus of France,
SO says superstition. In 1856, just
after the fall of Constantinople, this
sentence was added to the Ave Maria,
Lord save us from the Devil, the
Turk and the Comet"
Temperance Is Predicted.
But HALEY wasn't satisfied with
being historian. He tried a little
prophecy, and his prediction was that
the comet would come back in 1853,
that is, in 20 years.
1t arrived on Christmas night of
the year named and remained in
view for several months For a time
its tail reached more than half the
distance from the horizon to the re-
NTH. That was it's best effort so
far as its appendage is concerned
The last time it hove in sight the
tail wasn't quite so healthy. The
sky sharks say it has used up a
lot of the streamer in switching
around the sun and will never again
be as brilliant.
AS near as the astronomers can
figure it out the common variety of
comet is much like the human being
who makes great splurge and de-
lights in basking in the limelight.
1t is perfectly harmless. Sometimes
it distends to enormous dimensions
from heat, and because there is moth
ing much to hinder it from bloating.
But it carries no weight to speak Of.
Jupiter a Comet Catcher.
The best proof of this is that no
known comet has ever noticeably af-
fected the orbit of even so small a
body as the earth. On the other