The Washington herald., 1909-05-09

I first appeared on the eve OF Litania Ma
/ Ior. the With OF KaI OF Nav CApriI ~
and SO shone all the seven nights
/ The appearance OF the comet IN l45'
took place when the Turks. under tn,
| leadership OF MohamIned II. threatened
| Christendon. The great curved tail. look
! ing so much Ike the curved scimatar o.
the Mussulnan. struck such abject terror
| into the heart OF Christendom that Pope
/ Calixtus formally excommunicated the
celestial monster and ordered the Chris
tan nations 10 offer up special prayer
/ for deliverance from the Turk To ths
Ave Maria" was added the prayer
Lord. save us from the devil the Turk
and the comet"
When II Came in 1895.
During the comets last appearance &c
earth, IN 1885. It was within 42.eo0,Oo0 miles
OF the earth, or less than half as IA,
away as the sun While thus near Us II
underwent some remarkable changes Of
appearance. The astronomer Bessei com
pared its nucleus, OF head. to q burning
rocket, and in his description mentions {
blazing sector which swung Ike pen
dulum TO and fro for a period Of nearly
five days
These Accommodations" he adds. were
then swept back as If by tempestuous
wind TO form a tail, which on October Is
measured at least a degrees or about
cne-fourth the distance from the zenith
TO the horizon
After the comet had faded from the un-
aided sight, Sir John Herschel, stationed
al the cape with a powerful telescope.
noted a remarkable phenomenon The nu-
cleUs Of the comet assumed the form Of
I q miniature comet with a head and tail,
and this comet within a comet" was the
I last appearance 10 the eye Of man OF the
wanderer. due back IN a few months
When the comet had faded from the
| last view in 1885 the astronomers set
/ themselves to computing when IL would
next be seen. The generally accepted
conclusion was that It would appear or
May a. 1910. but there are several very
delicate allowances and computations Of
/ differences 10 be made in this calculation,
so the comet may be here ten days or
more before this.
II viii be seen after its first appearance
until the end OF June. increasing In bril-
hancy each night. Then II viii slowly dis
/ appear.
BY the beginning Of August the comet
win have been almost altogether forgot
I ten by laymen- Only 2 few astronomers
will be working on the question Of when
| Il viii next be seen on earth and what
viii be its appearance
VIII II Strike the Earthf
II the comet should pass the orbit of
the earth on april Il instead Of the day.
some weeks later. set for IL. says one
scientist, It would come into head-on col
iision with the earth The consequences
OF this are quite beyond Imagination
The relative velocity OF the two bodies
would be about fifty miles a second Just
consider what would happen II an in-
nense mass Of molten material should
collide with the earth. the two meeting
each other at the rate OF fifty miles q
second
Just what appearance the comet viii
have when u Is next seen Is impossible
"a say. It's form varies each time Pos
siblv D. this time Il Is so worn out be-
cause u its long journeys through the
Infinite that il viii be barely visible * all.
This contamination is quite possible.
and n 1885 the comet was weaker tnaH
fl had been in any OF its other apparitions.
Speaking Of the general appearance OF
the comet. z. Ledger, an astronomer and
writer on astronomical subjects OF note'
once wrote:
1t is a comet Of notable beauty and
grandeur Of head and tail, and II IS ex-