Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-19

Expects Tonight to Tell
Story of Comets Action
By Edwin Fairfax Naulty.


casts Of the time Of passage Of Halley's
comet were based on its apparent speed
and certain laws Of the passage Of heav-
enly bodies in space 1t is not without
the bour ds of possibility that the earth
and the moon may have exerted some
retarding effect on the comet thereby de-
laying its transit even at distance of
fourteen million miles. There is on record
one comet which actually got all tangled
up in the satellites Of Jupiter and "hung
around these satellites for several
months. finally breaking away from their
influence and continuing its journey to-
ward the sun. ...-
las the moon settoward the horizon this
morning. in company with some others
was watching the region below the Great
Square of Pegasus. Though the sky was
very clear and the milky way quite
sharp. there seemed to be a streamer Of
radiance below the square corresponding
to the place in which the tail Of Halley's
comet had been. Mr.. Burton of the Naval
Observatory was on the deck OF the
main building watching for signs of me-
teors in the calculated radiant point.
called his attention to this radiant stream
er. and he thought he saw it, but it was
SO faint he was not sure. .
"The moon. although five days from
full, was very bright, and dimmed by
its radiance even the milky way. This
made 1t difficult to determine the exact
quality of the streamer. although the
moon at that time was very, low.
THE friends who were with me were
very anxious to return to the city. and
rather regretfully / started back On
the trip in town saw one brilliant
flash OF light. which seemed to come
from the northeast and cross the zenith
to the southwest. There was no repe-
tition OF this single fash. and observa-
tion of It was necessarily very brief
and interfered with by the trees lining
the streets.
"At o'clock from in town. observing
from a window facing east I noted very
strong exhibition of zodiacal light which
filled q whole quadrant OF the heavens
with a base Of ninety degrees and an
apex extending well above the zenith.
Near the base and below the great square
there extended a strong streamer of light.
Since such streamers are sometimes
seen before dawn and since an interven-
ing building shut of part OF my hori-
OF auroral light. 1t seems. how
ever. that at about this time. in the
darker region of Observatory Hill. OBJ
server Morgan noted from the lawn the
had earlier noted from the roof. From
the observations resulting 1t seems that
| the tall of Halley's comet was still
streaming to the eastward Of the sun:
| thus indicating that the comet had not
passed the sun last night, as per
| schedule.
Tonight to Tell Story.
Tonight ought to tell the story. If the
comet did not pass the sun last night.
even allowing for all probable causes of
retardation. II should pass In transit to-
day, and the very first sight of II to the
east Of the sun will enable computations
| to be made that will determine practical
| ~ its exact time of passage and its line
| OF transit. Prof Innes of the observatory
| at the Cape Of Good Hope now announces
that he thinks the comet will pass the
computed.
Others explain the apparent delay in
transit by a tagging Of the comets tail
behind It's head. and assert that the head
| has passed, while the tail has not.
There Is another explanation of the
radiance seen in the east. The tail of
/ the comet, composed OF light transmitted
| by the head, might have involved the
| earth. and. opposed by the brilliant moon
light not have been visible in the zenith,
| vet seen at the horizon. This would be
| caused by the fact that under such cir
cumstances we would more lines of
| light at the horizon than at the zenith,
precisely as we see more lines OF light at
the top and bottom" Of the tail than
| at its center.
| Tina, none were seen In the west may
be due to the fact that attention was
/ concentrated on the east and that at the
time Of the apparition both Jupiter and
the moon were in the west and their
light combined might quench the fainter
light OF the comets tail.
| The sun spots reported yesterday were
| d d'stinctly seen on the sun from the root
Of The Evening Star building. and
these spots are seen on a photograph OF
the sun made ut that time.
A curious difference in the photographs
OF the sun and the region about II is
shown In the photographs taken Tues
day and Wednesday. Those of Tuesday
show the sun apparently one-third less In
size than those OF Wednesday. The same
camera was used. with the same lens
plates and operator. The difference Is
not due to any real change in the size OF
the sun in the two days, but 1t shows
clearly that even to the presumably exact
camera eye changes Of weather and other
conditions produce changes of appear