The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1910-05-05
SOME FACTS ABOUT
HALLEY'S COMET
Its Discoverer. Temperatures and
Portents of SuperstitiouS Belief.

made within a few weeks when
the much talked of Halley's comet
passes between the earth and the
sun and at the same time swishes
this planet with its Nebulous tail.
This important event is scheduled
to take place on May IS and as
tronomers throughout the world
are making extensive preparations
to secure good photographs and
gather all the information possible
on this heavenly wanderer, as it is
not scheduled to reappear until IS
years hence. On the date of its
last appearance, in 1885, the art
of photographing heavenly bodies
was unknown, and future genera
tions had to be content with
sketches made by astronomers
who observed the phenomena.
The opportunity to- photograph
this month, however, will be I'M
usual as it will be only II, 900, 900
miles from the earth on May IS.
1t will cross the suns disk during
the forenoon, and will be visible
in the west shortly after sunset for
several days later, finally passing
out of sight on its long journey
away from the sun.
What will happen when we pass
through the tail of the comet?
According to the information fur
nished by the leading astronomers
there is nothing to be feared. At
this time the tail will be about
$1,000, 900 miles long, and the head
of the comet will be $4,000, 900
miles away from the earth. The tail
is said to be made of thin, harmless
gases, much lighter than the air
we breathe, and it is very proba-
BILE that it will not be noticeable.
AS the contact will take place in
the forenoon, it will certainly not
be noticeable on this side Of the
earth, where it will be broad day
light, and as the other side of the
earth will be screened from a di.
rect encounter, it will probably
not be seen there. AS the comet s
tail extends millions of miles be-
yond the earth, however, it is ex-
tremely likely that the inhabitants
of the Antipodes may see some
evidence of it in the night sky.
Were the earth and the head of
the comet to come in contact, how
ever, it would be more serious,
but there is no likelihood of this,
as the earth will have safely pass
ed that point in its orbit, by the
time the comet reaches it.
OF all the comets which have
appeared from time to time, Hal
ley's is the most interesting, and
is the oldest one of which we have
any record, its appearance being
recorded as early as II B. c. I'm
like other comets this heavenly
traveller has a closed orbit, of
which it makes a complete circuit
every Is years. The discovery of
this fact was responsible for its
name. 1t was in 1852 that Edmund
Haley, Englishman, made the
announcement that comets move
in closed orbits. After a great
deal of research in similar orbits,
he concluded that these were one
and the same. When he had salts
fed himself as to his discovery,
he announced that the comet
would appear in the latter part of
1853 or the beginning of 1880.
Although he had been dead a
number of years, the astronomical
world awaited with considerable
curiosity the result of his predic-
ton, and when the brilliant body
lit up the heavens on Christmas of
1853, it was Immediately christen-
ed with Halley's name. It ap-
peared next in 1885.
During the Biblical times, and
even down beyond the middle
ages, the inhabitants of the earth
stood in great fear of a comet, and
Halley's has been linked with a
number of historical incidents. 1t
was in 1887, during the reign of
Louis l (the Pious) of France that