The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1910-05-12
HOW TO SEE
HALLEYS COMET
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN TELLS
ABOUT THE TRAVELLER
THROUGH SPACE.
EAoSsGnce Mast be Made for the Dit
ference in NeSv York and Brandon
Time-The Luminary.


american gives interesting facts concern
ing Halleys comet. In reading that part
which relates to the time for seeing the
comet it should be remembered that New
York time is about an hour earlier than
Brandon time.
1t is seldom that so much of interest
to the amateur astronomer happens in
single month as in the time which is just
before US.
First and foremost, of course, is the
return of Halley's comet to the position
where it is seen to the best advantage.
Early iE the month it is favorably placed
for observation before daybreak; on the
18th it passes directly between us and
the sun; and later it appears to even
greater advantage in the evening sky.
At the beginning of May the comet is
about "a million miles away, but it ap-
proaches US rapidly, its distance diminish
ing to Al million miles on the 10th, and
27 million on the I4th. AS it was about
at the limit of visibility to the naked eye
on April 12th, while still 135 million
miles from US, it is now fairly conspi-
cuous object.
The planet Venus is fortunately near
by and serves as an excellent pointer"
to the comet Anyone however little
familiar with the heavens, can easily find
the latter by observing the following di-
rections:
Choose a window from which the cas-
tern sky is visible clear down to the hori-
zon. Rise about s:I5 a. m, and look
due east The very bright starlike object,
low down in the sky, is Venus. The comet.
is to the left of this and little higher
up at a distance about as great as the
length of the bowl of the Great Dipper.
1t will probably be rather fainter than
the four stars, forming a great square,
which lie above and to the left of Venus
about twice as far away as the comet
These directions hold good from May
rst to May 12th On tie I4th the comet
will be seen on a level with Venus, and
little farther to the left. On the 10th
it will be much lower than the planet
and about 70 deg. to the left. After this
the comet, or at least its head, can hardly
lie seen clear cf the morning twilight
It will be very interesting to watch
the comet grow larger and brighter night
by night as it GENES nearer to us. How
long It's tail will be it is impossible to pre-
dict TIE best time to see this, however,
will in any case be from the 9TH onward,
when the moon is out of the way and
the sky dark. The comet will be larger
and brighter, too at this time than pre-
viously.
Even after the head gets near the sun,
the tail may be observable in the morn
ing of the r7th and 18th extending up
ward and 10 the right from the eastern
horizon, perhaps broad and fan-shaped,
from the perfects of perspective, since
the end of it will be much nearer us
than the head.
On the evening cf the ISth3 morning
of the 10Th according to the observers
longitude) the ccmet passes between us
and the sun, and the earth will be en-
yeloped in its tail if the latter is long
enough (ovcr IS million miles.)
If this evening is clear it will be of
great interest and Importance to look for
illumination of the sky. In the early
evening, just after sunset, the comets
tail will be in the east, balt few hours
later it will have passed over toward the
west. If, as is sometimes supposed, the
tail is hollow cone of light, there will
be two times at which the sky in general
is comparatively brightly Illuminated,
separated by an interval while we are in
the darker center of the tail Mean
while, observers on the opposite side of
our planet will have the rare privilege
of seeing the sun through the comets
head Only the extreme western portion
of the United States is included in this
favored region, but as the comet enters up
on the suns disk at 6:22 p. m. by Pacific
standard time and remain on it till 7:22,
the transit will be visible all along the
sEksf. The comet passes almost squareIy
across the ceater Of the sun from west to
east.
Paradoxical as it may be seen, it is
probable that the ordinary observer even
with snail telescope and dark glasses,
will not be able to detect even the slight