El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-04-02

goth the comet will be at perihelion,
when it comes within 541k million miles
of the center Of the sum- Then 1t
turns in its course and starts on its
long flight for SO years off into the
depths Of space to a distance OF 5000
millions of miles. The closer and
tloser the comet comes to the sun, the
more does the heat Of the sun act on
the material forming the head, ana
generate forces TO throw on matter
which eventually forms the tail We
are not absolutely certain of the nature
of the solid core of the comet. though
the concensus of opinion seems to IA
vor the idea that it is made up of solid
bodies some large, some small, the
whole being like a great number Oh
meteorites moving along together. This
lump which IN some comets is 5000 or
5000 miles in diameter, and in smaller
comets not more than 100 miles. is
loosely packed together with large in
terspaces. Science is forced to this
theory mainly on account Of the action
of Biela's comet.
Interesting Comet.
This comet discovered in 1926 was a
most interesting one. 1t had short
period of six and two-third years, and
calculations showed that its path came
within 10000 miles of the earth's. This
was sufficient to start a great comet
scare-one of the many we have had
that the comet was going to collide
with the earth, and as result the
earth was TO be blown to pieces. This
of course, proved that a little know
ledge is very dangerous thing, Tor
the calculations of the astronomer
showed that the earth would arrive at
the crucial point a month before the
comet AS we now know, no harm
came TO the earth. On the third return
in 1876 something remarkable had hap
pened to Biela's comet. something IN
heard OF in cometary history, separa-
ton had taken place, and the comet
was divided into two parts Whlcn
moved along side by side On the next
return in 1852, no further change nao
taken place, the two comets were Cd
served side by side But from that day
to this, the comet as such mas never
returned. Had the calculations been
astrav7 was this the case of a lost
comet. splendid meteor shower was
comet. or what had happened? In 1872
when the earth was passing the former
path of the comet, a splendid meteor
shower was SCENT which appeared
again in 1892. and with less frequency
In other years
The scientific world now call these
meteors. the Beileids, to signify that
they formerly were the interesting
comet. II was first split up into two,
then into thousands and millions or
particles. The paths Of many other
comets and meteor showers have been
closely related, so that it is thought
that the comet may be only the denser
nor+ion of a meteor shower, where the
nartjcIes are more closely packed to-
gether. On account of the meteor1c
character of the head. the suns neat
causes the comet to be more anu more
active the closer it comes TO the SUM-
and as a result the comet OF ltseh Is
generally brightest and the tail the
longest But the brilliancy OF the comet
In the sky depends not only on the
brjebtness of the comet itself but also
on its distance from the earth, the
comets distance being decreased by
two. its light to our eyes would be in
creased four-fold. Hence, though the
comet viii really be brightest on April
90 II will be most prominent in the
skies when nearest the earth Just De
fore and just after May lS
Heavens Made Plain.
Rv referring to the diagrams many
poin+s of interest will be made plain.
First of all is to be noticed that the
comet moves about the sun in di-
rection opposite to that taken by the
planets. If we join simultaneous posi-
lions of earth and comet, we will see
that on March &c, the line to comet
passes through the SUM- If we place
ourselves at the position of the earth
on that day. we will see that the comet
moves from the left Of the sun 10 the
right of it. AS everyone knows body
to the left of the sun sets after it. and
If to the right of our great luminary,
1t rises before 1T. Hence, on March %,
Halley's comet passed TO the other side
Of the sun and became morning OBJ