The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1910-02-23
INCIDENTS OF
HALLEYS COMET
Facts Concerning Return
ing Visitor.
IT MAKES PERIODICAL TRIPS
Through Space-NOw of In
tereSt to Students of
the Heavens.

The most important astronomical
event of the present century is the
locating of the celebrated Halley's
comet. Prof. Max Wolf, of Heidle-
burg, Germany found it on a photo
graphic plate that was taken Sept. IL,
1909. As soon as the discovery was
made known a hundred telescopes
were pointed in the direction of the
illustrious visitor.
Since its last appearance i'm 1888,
Halley's comet has Travelled millions
of miles beyond the orbit of Neptune
in the icy cold Of space. Now it is
coming our way.
1t is impossible to see the comet at
%. he. present time with the 1raktd eye;
but with a good six-inch telescope, or
even a thrce-inch glass, its position
can be traced from night To night.
Those who are not fortunate enough
to possess a telescope will have 10
wait until some time in April before
getting a naked-cye view of this COM
ct 1t will then rise shortly before
the sun, and will rapidly increase in
brightness.
At present the comet is moving to-
ward the west in direction opposite
the motions of all the planets around
the sun. On April 10, it will be near
est the sun and will move with its
greatest speed in its orbit.
Five days later it will be headed in
the direction of the earth, but we
shall pass by unframed. AT that time
April q, its motion will be towards
the east, and so it will continue 10
move. On the evening of May is, our
visitor will be within l40O0000 miles
of the earth, after which, for a few
days it will move among the stars
at the rate Of 10 degrees per day,
equal ia one-siXth of the distance
from the zenith to the horizon.
On May 10 The comet may be seen
rs magnificent object appearing
shortly after sunset 1t will get high
or and higher up in the western sky
each succeeding day.
It will probably travel across The
face # he sun, but there is no dan
ger Of It. striking either the Garth or
the sun We shall probably pass
through its tail, hut the only serious
consequence viii be metcoric show
er, which may, in Itself, be a glor-
ious sight to behold. However, we
can not predict positively that the
shower will occur
Halley's comet gives great promise
of being a remarkable one. In May
it will he a gorgeous spectacle in The
sky, brilliant object with a long,
flowing tail, 80 degrees in length,
stretching one-third of the distance
from the horizon to the zenith.
In the summer of 1852, Halley's
comet was very extensively observed
by two Englishmen, HALEY and Flamt-
seed and by Cassini at Paris and
this, Haley undertook the labor Of
calculating the elements of all the
comets which had been sufficiently
observed to enable him to do so. A
comparison of the elements of all the
comets thus computed byHalley show
ed that those which appeared in the
years 1881, 1907 and 1852, were NOV
ing in orbits very similar to each
other Hence he was led to conclude
that they were successive appearances
of the same comet, revolving around
the sun in a period Of aboJS 20 or IS
years; and he was more confirmed
in this by the fact that a remarkable
comet was recorded 10 have appeared
in the year 1857. which was seventy
five years before 1881. He concluded
by confidently predicting that it would
appear in the year 1858. 1t did SO
appear, being first seen on Christ
mas day in that year by a Saxon
farmer and by an amateur named
Palitzsch near Dresden. SubseQuerN
calculations have been made 10 lden-
tify Halley's comet with comets seen
at many intervals of seventy-six years
before 1856, tie first being so Ear
back as IL p. c.. in The reign Of me
Emperor Augustus, and the second
A. d. CO.
When Halley's prediction Was full