The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-27
HlLLEH''S COMET.
AmportAnt PaFs ~ mayed In csanr~'anS
NeWHon's Discovery.

NGNNu8s uaaD0NNys
Frou fAs Spectator
HaIley's comet is still an Obscnre object
and has confounded some OF the raaM@r
prophets who predicted that BY this ume
it would be conspicuous. AZ present the
comet il below and 70 tho right of the planet
saturn In the western sky ana - An eve"
ming star. Every evening the comet. Az
though approachlns the earth, 10 COMING
nearer 70 the point where Il will be impos-
able To sae Il owing TO tho strength OF the
twilight by April II will be morning
star. on April 10 IL will reach tie psrthslAon.
or nearest point to the sun. 10 viii reAcn
its nearest point 20 the earth On May 70:
but a. q and tho sun VIII b In the same pAfs
! Of the sky the comet will be invisible 70 us
just when Il should be particularly orignt
The day before its nearest approach 70 the
earth Il will pass across the sun. and ascron-
omers are looking forward with intense IN.
tsrest 70 this ira nsit. There h no recorded
case Of q comet having been seen during
transit. and it may be that the composition
Of comets 10 % nsbuloua that even thS
nucleus 10 not substantial enough 20 b pro-
jectsd on the sun. The tail. at all events.
win be invisible the suns rays viii shine
through q a. through the llghtest Of vapors.
After the transit the comet will be an eve
ming star again aud will become more and
more visible for . time. although " viii be
actually losing in orilliance.
when Haley first suggested that the
comet now known by his name would TO-
turn In 1853 he had compa rcd only three
sets Of observations. In which he discovered
such a striking simia rity that he concluded
| that they must all refer to the same comet.
| These were the observations OF 1851. 1907
and 1882 in which year he observed the
comet for himself. He was then Is years
Of age. He must have been predestined
still a schOOlboy he had provided himself
Nth an a.tronoIlo.l apps ra,1". 49, sna Shs en-
s .. w q" ,sIsssope and various instrS.
menis on the roof Of his fathers factory
N wInchestsr street: London lie l:it
to study astronomy abroad. and when
after further CalCulatlOns he definitely
:: cs ne ' SSsS s.ndid So. Ss =.
sckno " ledge that this was nrst discovered
". hsS" read somewhere that Peter the
Grea; when pc vas staying IN England
! had a particular liking for the cOmpAnign-
witn nam Al DeptfOrd one evening he wheeled
him in a harrow through a yew hedge and
did such damage that he had TO pay hand
some mpenMa ton TO John Evelyn, the
"a nsr which Incident shows that shake
Speare was right IN thinking that NOT every
| the stars hut IL would be wrong to think
OF Halley'S investigations as having
/ bs forgotten that his prediction OF the re-
turn 81 the comet known by his name de-
nRnna0 upon unu rOnuIlneO newton us
cOvery Of the Ia ~ Of gavttatton. Newton
VAS his close friend, and HALEY paid for
the publication of me rlncipla out OF
ssumed the varying retA rda lions by at
traction NhiCh comets sufer during their
sS,,ss w.s srG fsinil.d Ss~,ons could
never q gain he disputed.
! In IssO Mr. ) X. Hind reed paper before
! the Royal Astronomical Soriety in which
comet through ne sgs- With the help OF
GENTLY Jerome known IN Europe Ne he
i-yed that IN Them ~ had found rediole
! year u 4 ~ We took u ~ certain that
/ HAlley'- 'ons, reac he'd IL peIihelion IN
it;,. and therefore,. s'l SN the normal
sansi- definitely d:-.ribed great Comet
/ a, cunt Of q by Friar Giles. which was not
, r-conciihble with the chinese record. IL
The chinese we're describing HAlley's comet
" seemed that FriAr Giles certainly ~as not.
Mt Hind Wa led on TO an examination
OF Friar Gile-'s Crediblity he discovered
Sa- 40 contradictory that he had no hest
tAtiOn ~hAteyeT IA DrsierrinE the Chinese
iSs s comet Of rSI vas HsIIey:s comet
| Ne believed that the preceding return OF
b%fors the death Of Philip Augustus, =
comet wa- seen for eight days IN the eve
n,nS s'hSn Inc, h ne, ann A' 90 not
comets IN the YEAR, leg: and 1894. neither
OF which. Mt Hind thought. closely resem-
The rompari-on Of all these old ob~erva-
tons - rendered more din1cult by the fast
about the same tims a. Halley's That
experience - IN way repeating itself.
foT during the present wear two notable
comets besides Haiey'z have appeared
The brilliant "Alcu lations recently made
by Me--r~ Covell and Grom melin Of Green
Nich have shown that Mr. Hind wrong
about the partt' UlRrly bright comet of 1877
sshich was mnauestionably Hsl'ey's comet.
have carried back the history Of HAlleyis
livery chronci~r recorded a wonderful
comet IN l0~s. the year 81 the Norman con-
IN the BayeuN tapestry i familiar The
/ chinese annals mention two comets IN saT
and " II be assumed that there really we're
,-ts have not confused two accounts Of the
same comet u h likely enough that one Of
hem w4s Halisyss In 'Sl a comet was
! which Ntila vas defeated by .Etius In
the years .nS and us comets are mentioned
I thai was seen IN Europe shortly before the
and was described by Dion Ca,--ius as a
the soc allied sword shaped IGN Nhich Mas
seen over Jerusalem IN 4. y. a.. when Titus
began the var which ended in the destTl.-
ton u the city. may have been HAlley'a
comet In the year n q. II there Was I'm
dOubtssiiy a remarkable comet Which. az
pended above Rome before the death Of
Agrtppa. A. the Chinese annals also men
ton a. Mr. Hind believed thGi1Ihis too VAS
Not all Mr. Hind'- -ascriptIon.. a. art
criiscs -ay. are reconctable with Messr-
bI, enough y e"d,,bl,.h.a an ~ h u,as,on -
prove that HAllsy's sonnet has been aDpNaT-
ing ever since the history Of the -kies has
beea written.
harley kse,r ths TVan~av