Evening star., 1909-06-06
By Mary Proctor

lies during the last few months
has been the expected return of Halleys
comet but SO far it has failed to material
izc. This may be owing to the fact that
due allowance has not been made for the re-
tardIng influence OF the two planets recently
discovered by NJ. Gaillot of the French Acad-
emv of Science. These planets are SAID to roam
beyond the path of the outermost planet Nep-
tune, one being forty-tive times and the other
sixty times the distance of the earth from the
sun. or twice as far Neptune from that
luminarv.
1t is safe to assume that the giant planet
Jupiter. which IS the great dlsturber of COM
cts, not responsible for the delay in this case,
as Halley's comet does not approach that
planet within several million miles In fact,
none Of the large planets comes anywhere near
the comet on this trip: but in its passage
through the region between Jupiter and Mars,
wherein some six hundred asteroids or minor
planets wander in paths 1nterlaced IN wonder
fully complex fashion the comet may have
lost its head in the most literal sense of the
word
The largest of these planets, named Ceres,
has diameter of nearly five hundred miles,
he smaller ones are about ten or twelve miles,
mere mountains broke loose" As the younger
Hersche wrote in 1866, when Bela's comet was
.irst missed. Peradventure it has plunged into
and got bewildered among the ring OF meteor
ties" All that we know of the structure OF
comets head teaches us to believe that, minute
and scattered are the planets comprising
this ring of miniature worlds, they are suffi-
GENTLY compact to effect the destruction OF
comet dashng at full speed into their midst.
At this part of its journey, Halleys comet adj
vances at the rate of about eight hundred miles
a minute rushing onward with velocity of
over one thousand miles a minute after 1t has
passed the danger zone
Maybe He Got Its Picture
0NE ray of hope illumines the darkness of
- doubt behind which the comet lies con-
cealed Dr. Max Wolf of Heidelberg, an in
veterate pursuer OF asteroids has recently Sc
cured a photograph of one OF these objects,
which he has named condltlonaly Planet EW,
and estimates it as being of the eighteenth
magnitude, just bright enough to be captured
by the camera. 1t is very close to the predicted
place of Hallev's comet, and has something like
the same rate of motion. According to A. c.
Crommelin, authority the subject. who
IS very cautious in his statements, it IS not
absolutely impossible but that it might be
faint image of Halley's comet" He would not
say more than that but it is sufficient to
arouse hope concerning the return of the ex
pected wanderer. Probably it has been de-
clining in size, and may not be SO imposing
sight as popular imagination has pictured it;
but IN southern skies 1t will be seen at its best
during the coming winter. Unfortunately, 1T
sets twenty minutes before the total eclipse of
the sun which will occur May s, 1910, and will
be visible in Tasmania. Otherwise, the inhabi-
tants of that part of the world would enjoy the
magnificent spectacle of the comet and the
corona visible IN the darkened sky at the same
moment.
While searching for Halley's comet, a number
of asteroids, or planetoids, as they sometimes
called, have been discovered SO that their num-
Der is increasing with inconvenient rapdity.
In fact, they regarded joke, and
astronomers are more annoyed than pleased at
such discoveries. At recent meeting of the
Royal Astronomical Society, one astronomer
went so far as to remark jocosely, . 1t should be
made an offense punishable by fine or imprison-
ment to discover any more minor planets.
They have become an intolerabe nuisance, and
are great burden upon the astronomers who
have to keep pace with them and record them.
| have never seen, during the last few years,
at any rate, any good come from them, any
likely to come / should like to the supply
stopped and the energies of the German gentle
man" MAX Wolf of Heidelberg who finds
many, turned into more promising chan
nels J"
However, if the planet EW proves to be the
long expected comet then the German gen.
,leman' will surely feel that his efforts were
worth while, and that he has been instrumental
in finding gem amid hundreds of worthless
pebbles. 1t ranks with a treasure trove de
tected by Herr Witt of the Urania Observatory,
Berlin in 1898, by means of photography. On
examining celestial photograph, Herr Witt
discovered a most interesting little planet,
which has since proved to be only about twenty
miles in diameter 1t comes nearer to the earth
than any other heavenly object except the