Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1910-02-03
HALLEY's COMET
by DR.. EphriAm Miller, Professor Of
Mathematics and Astronomy,
University Of Kansas.

The comet which made lts ITS
appearance a few evenings ago n
the Western heavens took the as
tronomers as well as other mortali
by surprise. 1t is being closely OBJ
served and there will doubtless be
something Interesting to say about
| It very soon. 1t has been called DC
Rake's comet in honor OF Its first OBJ
server.
The most important astronomical
event OF the present century is the
finding Of the celebrated Haiiey'a
comet. Professor Max Wolf. Of Hell
delberg, Germany, found It on a
Photographic plate that was taken
september II, 1909. AS soon as the
discovery was made known a hum
dred telescopes were pointed In the
direction Of the illustrious visitor.
since It's last appearance In 1885,
Halley's comet has Travelled millions
OF miles beyond the orbit OF Neptune
in the Icy cold of space. Now 1t Is
coming our way.
It is impossible to see the comet
at the present time with the naked
eye. But with a good slx-inch teles-
cope, or even a three-inch glass us
position can be traced from night to
night. Those who are not fortunate
enough to possess a telescope Will
have to walt until sometime In April,
before getting a naked eye-view Of
this comet. 1t will then rise shortly
before the sun, and will rapidly In
crease in brightness.
At the present the comet Is moving
towards the west in a direction OPP
posite the motions Of all the planets
around the sun. On April 10 1t Will
be nearest the sun and will move with
its greatest speed in its orbit.
Five days later 1t will be headed
in the direction of the earth but we
shall pass by unframed. AT this
time, April "a. Its motion will be to-
wards the east, and so 1t will con-
tinue to move. On the evening OF
May IS our visitor will be within
100000 miles Of the earth, after
which for few days 1t will move
among the stars at the rate OF 10
degrees per day, equal to one sixth
Of the distance from the zenith to
the horizon.
On May 10 the comet may be seen
as a magnificent object appearing
shortly after sunset. 1t will get
higher and higher up in the western
sky each succeeding day. 1t Will
probably travel across the face of the
sun but there is no danger Of 1t strik-
ing either the earth or the sun. We
shall probably pass through It's tall
but the only serious consequence Will
be a meteorlc shower, which may In
itself be a glorious sight to behold.
However, we cannot predict posi-
lively that the shower will occur.
HalIey's comet gives great prom
ise Of being a remarkable one In
May It will be a gorgeous spectacle
in the sky, a brilliant object with a
long flowing tail, 80 degrees in length
stretching one third Of the distance
from the horizon to the zenith.
In the summer Of 1882, Halley's
comet was very extensively observed
by two Englishmen, HALEY and Flam-
steed, and by Cassini at Paris, and
by many others. Some years after
this, HALEY undertook the labor Of
calculating the elements Of all the
comets which had been sufficiently
observed to enable him to do SO.
A comparison of the elements of
all the comets thus computed by Hal
ley showed that those which ap-
peared in the years 1881, 1897 and
1889, were moving in orbits very
similar to each other. Hence he
was led to conclude that they we're
successive appearances Of the same
revolving around the sun In
a period Of about rs, or 76 years..
and he was more confirmed in this
by the fact that a remarkable comet
was recorded to have appeared In
the year 1457, which was seventy
five years before 1881. He conclud-
ed by confidently predicting that II
would appear in the year 1853. It
did so appear, being first seen on
Christmas day in that year by Saxon
farmer, and by an amateur named
PalItzch near Dresden. Subsequent
calculations have been made to iden-
tlfy Halley's comet with comets seen
at many intervals Of seventy-slK years
before 1855. the first being 30 Tar
back ss 10 b. c., in the rsisn Of
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