Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1909-10-19
HALLEY's COMET.
~ May Come Blazing In splendor or
Comparatively insignificant.

~ way Coftla 6Au%iUH w 0HiCUUNF o.
Comparatively insignificant.
The biggest free show that this gen
Grafton will have seen will soon be
given It's arena will be high up in the
sky, where everybody may see it. and
/ there will be no need of crowding. II
will be a one star show, The return Of
: Halley's comet. The last time Il was
seen by tho people on earth was in
1886, and II is now in the last stages
OF journey of 6.SO0,0OO.000 miles,
which had to be made to play this re-
turn date.
Again, Notwithstanding the advance
of science. fear will minge with won
der at its apparltion A thrill of appre-
hension will be felt by millions who
see it's fiery head blowing through the
stars and its sword shaped tail bran
dished over the earth. as if monitory
of unknown and unavoidable evil
Astronomers have calculated that
Halley's comet must have crossed in
side the orbital dis ance Of Jupiter
from the sun about the 1st Of last Jam
nary In the middle OF January its
distance from the earth was estimated
az 100000 miles. During the late
fall it is expected TO become visible to
the naked eye after having for months
before been photographed and studied
with telescopes. 1t will slowly bright
en- during next winter, being visible
from nearly all parts Of the earth.
Gradually approaching the sun, II
will make its perihelion passage at q
distance OF about 9E000OOO miles from
the solar globe on the 18th OF Sext
April Its greatest brightness Is ex-
pected 10 occur after the fefibelioR
passage, when It will draw nearer the
earth aud be visible ia both the eveR-
ing and the morning sky. Burat that
time it will be south Of the celestial
equator and consequently better seen
from the southern hemisphere. About
May lS the comet will be only 12000,-
coo or 100000 miles from the earth.
although for more than a month it
will have been retreating from the sun.
Just what its appearance will be 30
one can predict 1t is the PrOteus Of
space 1t may blaze with amazing
splendor, as il did when trembling Eu-
rope saw in it an avatar of the con-
quering sword of the prophet of Nee
ca. or it may be relatively insignih-
cant. But in any event it will fix the
attention of mankind and for astrono-
mers will be the most interesting phe-
nomenon seen in the sky for many dec
AIDES.
The returns of Halley's comet have
recently been traced back to the year
24O B. c., but it has probably been re-
volving in its elliptical orbit very much
longer than that.
Hallcy's discovery after its appear
ance in 1862 that it was a regular Wis
itor to the neighborhood of the sun has
always ranked as one of the capital
triumphs Of astronomy His suspicion
that the comet of 1852 was not paying
its first visit to the sun was based
upon the similarity between its orbit
in space and the orbits of two other
comets which had appeared in 1907
and 1881 respectively. Gle did not
guess its identity with the comets of
1856 and 1861 If the three were iden-
teal then the same comet ought to
return again after another interval of
about twenty-six years Accordingly
HALEY ventured the prediction that
the comet would be back again in 1858
He died in l742. seventeen years Ne
fore the fulfllment Of his prophecy
Garrett P Serviss in Hampton's Mag
aZine