The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-05-20
TINE sETF0R THE
COMING Of COMET

Chicago. May H.-Prepare for
peek at the comet. Halley's comet
will give its next performance i'll this
hemisphere next Saturday evening at
eight o'clock. 1t will be within half
the length of its tail of the earth and
will appear big enough to make the
most daring think of cyclone cellars
if it were not rushing away from in
stead of toward the earth at that
time. 1t may be two or three days
after next Saturday before it gets far
enough out of the afterglow to be
plainly seen, but next Saturday night
| is the first possibility, according 70
Professor +. L. Barnard of Yerkes
! Observatory. The sooner it is seen
after next Saturday the better the
view that will be obtained as it will
diminish rapidly as it rpshes away
from the sun and the earth, and will
disappear entirely from view of the
unaided eye by the first of June.
| Smoke Balks Comet Parties.
| The forest fires which nave added
| the latest chapter to the woes of as
| tronomcrs i'm this section of the coum-
| try, combined with mist, foiled scicn-
| fists and laymen alike this morning.
Comet parties held forth OH the top
! floors and roofs of the Congress, the
| Blackstone, the Auditorium and other
| Michigan avenue hotels and clubs. but
4 h.,n
| the flashes from the lighthouse on
| the government pier. More informal
| parties in Grant Park and other points
of vantage along twenty miles of lake
| front had similar experience.
| AT lerkes Observatory Professor
Barnard trained his astronomical cam
eras and telescopes OH the proper point
! in the east, but he saw nothing but
smoke and mist. There have been
| just two days since the first of the
/ year when all conditions have been
favorable for viewing the comet, Pro
fessor Barnard said today. These were
the mornings of May 4 and ). With
favorable weather the comet could be
| seen for short time tomorrow morn
ing, but most people will wait for its
evening appearance.
What will happen tomorrow night
when the comet will pass between Inc
earth and the sun and its tail will
sweep across the earth is the topic
which is absorbing astronomers at
| present. \ negro high fnancer i'm
Los Angeles is reported to be working
successful heads | win tails YOU
lose" proposition by issuing comet IN
surance policies against injury from
! the comets tail, but Chicagoans are
urged to demand guarantees of a
| charmed life from any solicitors who
may approach them on such a project
The English custom of insuring against
loss from anything from the death of
q king to interference of storm with
attendance at an out of door perfor-
nance may be all right in its place.
it is pointed out but in this matter
mankind is to live or die together.
That fear of any serious conse
quences from the comets tail is al
together uncalled for was pointed out
today by Professor S. A. Mitchell of
Columbia university. A cubic mile of
| the tail subjected to the air pressure
| prevailing at the earti's surface would
be squeezed into 50 small space
that its presence in an ordinary lab
oratory. beakcr could be detected only
, by the most sensitive tests.
| While astronomers. mcteorologists
and common citizens i'm the United
States will look for the ''phosphores-
/ cent auroral glare" noted when the
earth passed through the tail of the
great comet of 1861, astronomers who
have taken up their posts in Manila
and Honolulu will watch for the pas
! sage of the comet between the earth
| and the sun with keen attention.
| We hope for the most valuable re
suits both from the expedition at Hon
! olulu headed by Professor II. G.. Lord
! and the French governments expe
dition which will observe the passage
| at Manila" said Professor Barnard
today. the Importance of the event
lies in determining the density of the
comets head. We have never been
! able to see comet obscure Il star.
and now we will learn whether it is
dense enough to dim the sun.
"There is no doubt that the tail will
prove entirely transparent but it is
generally believed that the nucleus will
appear as a dark spot ON the suns
disc
Professor Barnard learned with i'm.
terest of the observations made at
Smith Observatory, Geneva, y. Y.
where it was discovered that the coma
surrounding the head of the comet is
becoming markedly distended. "This
| has been observed in many comets on
| their close approach to the SUM-" he
said land is one of the things astrou
omers are yet unable to explain. It
was very marked i'm the great comet
that appeared last January IL came
within 100000 miles of the sun,
much closer than Hallcy's will come.