Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1910-04-28
HALLEYs COMET NOW
q VISITING OUR EARTH.
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earth, it's flight will be very rapid.
In six days it viii pass over the con-
:stellations Taurus, Gemini, Cancer,
Hydra, and Sextans; and in a month
or SO it will become SO faint as to dis.
appear to the naked eye. It is not
probable that the comet will remain
visible to the eye beyond the LIST of
July; but it will be seen through tele.
scopes till nearly the end Of the year.
Altogether it is practically certain
that the present visit of Halley's
comet will be the most striking phe-
nomenon of this kind during the pres
ent generation. Therefore every one
should be on the lookout for it. It
Is true that another bright comet
might come several years hence, but
the chances of its being as bright as
Halley's comet are small. There il
not one chance in millions that any
Of us will live to see another comet
pass over the suns disk"
The earth will be closest to the
comet, says a writer in London Sci
ence, on the twelfth Of May, when
sun, earth and comet win be on q
line, so closely, indeed, that astronom-
ers can base upon this circumstance
their prediction that the comet Is to
be projected upon the suns disk.
There must be q very great increase
in brilliancy, owing to the approach
Of the comet to the sun and the earth.
but it seems doubtful to this authority
whether we shall be able to observe
it. Through June and July the comet
will be seen and well seen, but the
earth and the comet will then be
moving in different directions, and the
increase of distance will be rapid in
rate SO that the decline in luster will
be equally rapid.
"The outcome of the whole matter
seems to be that when the comet IL
bright we shall not see it, and when
it is faint we shall have a good view
of it. That such a disappointment
awaits us Is the more probable, since
the tail, If it has developed, is always
turned away from the sun. At the
present apparition, therefore, the tail
will be directly towards us and we
shall see it greatly foreshortened,
leading to the under-estimation Of it's
real length.
''But comets can behave in the most
unexpected manner, and Halley's may
we'll have some surprise in store for
us. For instance, it has been men.
toned that the comet will be pro.
jected upon the suns disc. It is true
that we in Europe shall not see this
phenomenon unless we are prepared
to go far north to the home Of the
Midnight Sun, but in the Middle and
Far East the transit viii be looked
for with the greatest interest, We
say looked for advisedly, for comet
has neveg yet been seen projected up
on the sun. It may be that Halley's
will be the first to be seen in that
position. The materials of which
these bodies are formed are so trans
lucent that the suns light can pene
trate without loss, but Halley's has
been round the sun so many times,
and preserved its substance fairly In.
tact through so many centuries. that
one may hope it is composed of stern
or and more solid materials than
were it's predecessors which on form
or occasions have fitted between us
and the sun. It may not be out OF
place to recall here-for the purpose
Of condemning it with all the empha.
sis possible-an absurd suggestion
that has been made, either from mis-.
chief or from ignorance. It has been
urged that on the occasion, Of this
transit, when possibly the earth will
be involved in some portion of the
tail, some poisonous vapor escaping
from the comet will exercise deleter'
ious effect upon our atmosphere. OF
course, as Sir Robert Ball has pointed
out, there is no scientific foundation
for such suggestion. We may not
know the precise machinery by which
the tail is formed, or what gases may
exist in the parts Of the tail remote
from the nucleus, but long immunity
has taught us to anticipate no injury
from comet twelve millions Of miles
distant. These bodies, the lightest
and most incoherent that circ111ata IN