The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1910-05-21
ASTRONOMERS ALL AT SEA
Many Explanations Advanced for Fail
ure TO Meet the Tail

ure 10 Meet the Tai
Leading astronomers throughout
the world strove yesterday to find
some explanation for the trick Hal
ley's comet and particularly it's TAIL
played on them and the rest Of the
world Wednesday night.
Prof Harold Jacoby, Rutherford
Professor Of Astronomy at Columbia
University. last night said the new
turn in the affairs OF the comet OBJ
served by Miss Mary Proctor from
the Times tower and other astrOno-
mers at Princeton. Yerkes Obserya-
tory and elsewhere. when n was
thought to be surely and safely In the
west. was most dramatic and unex-
pected Last night Prof. Jacoby as
his colleague. Prof s. A. Mitchell now
at the Yerkes Observatory. had done
earlier In the day. threw up mis- hands
remarking that after all one must pin
his faith TO observations rather than
10 the best mathematician's figures
The astronomers had calculated
that by o'clock or so yesterday morn
ing New York time) the earth would
have passed through the tail OF the
comet and when they thought the
thing was done and were actually say
ing that their theories OF the earth's
meeting with this stranger without a
pcrceptible phenomenon. we're viudI-
Gated. up from the east came the tail
showing that the earth had not even
reached Il.
Tho larnaof trrout. ~ auf rnpnt,tara.
was at the Yerkes Observatory. VIII
Hams Bay. Wis, where the greatest
telescope In the world. with lens
forty inches In diameter. stands. Ac.
cording to the dispatches from VII.
liams Bay Prot Mitchell OF Columbia
who went there on purpose to observe
the effect OF the earth's passage
through the comets tail: Prof Edwin
u. Frost, head OF the observatory
stat. Prof Edward Barnard Of Chi
cago University. and their cowatchers
clustered about the eye-piece OF the
great telescope and demanded OF each
other what Il all meant. When they
could think Il over more calmly Profs.
Frost and Barnard issued statement
containing three explanations one
Of which might At the case. they rs.
serted.
They thought Il possible that the
curvature Of the comets tail. its lag,
so to speak, as noted On Tuesday
night by Prof. Barnard. had developed
to wholly unexpected degree This
would account for the appearance OF
the tail In the east. though the head
OF the comet had already made Il,
transit across the face OF the sun on
time Another theory was that IN,
comet had actually dropped It's tail
which thereupon had drifted on Int
space.
Speaking OF this suggestion las
night Prof. Jacoby called to mind tina
u would soon be possible to checl
It's accuracy. The comet ought TO b,
plainly visible In the west soon afte
sunset tonight or certainly tomorrow
night, and II Il still has well devel
oped tail one OF two things Is certain
u has not lost It's tail. or on the othe
hand. It's tailmaking ability Is unim
paired.
Profs. Frost and Barnard admlttel
that possibly all calculations ha
missed Gre and that the comet ha
not yet passed the earth. They al
not think this probable though, sayin
that the calculations had been mad
| by unQuestloned astronomical authol
tiles throughout the world. workin
independently and that the resul,
had been carefully corrected IN d
tail since the comet passed Venus o
NAV