Arizona republican., 1910-01-24

Whether or not the heavenly guesi
 with the hristling ihane which ap-
 pears nightly in the western sky, i.
 Halley's, comet is thing upon which
 astronomers are not yet quite settled
 though there is a growing belief that
 it is not But this is not the first
 time that astronomers have been at
 sea with reference to the identity of
 comets. The comet of 1893, when it
 first appeared, was hailed as Biela's
 comet, though it was afterward agreed
 tha it was Swift's.
 But if the present comet is not
 EIalley's. it is certain that that one
 will shortly be visible to the naked
 eye, so that tine record of it is q mat
 ter of present interest, It has been
 identified unauthoritatively with the
 star of Bethlehem. and with various
 comets which. appeared between the
 beginning of~the Christian era and the
 eleventh century. but astronomers pro-
 less to have no positive record of 1t
 previous to April, l066. when 1t blazed
 forth and was believed Ito presage the
 success of the Norman Conquest, and
 the invasion of England by the Nor
 mans guided by a comet" was a fa-
 miliar topic for the chroniclers of the time
 The following in relation to this comet is taken from .Science History of the Universe: The abdication of Emperor Charles " was reported to have been influenced by the comet of 1856. but the event had already taken place before the comet made its appearance. Gian Galeazzo. the Vis- eOnti Duke of Milan. viewed the comet of 1402 as a celestial sign of his ap- preaching death
 A striking example of the manner in which the comet was regarded is contained in the contemporaneous de- scription by Ambroise Pare, the father of French surgery. in which he speaks of the fear inspired by the comet Of 152s. This comet. h,. said. was so horrible. So frightful and 1t produced such great terror in the vulgar that some died of fear and others fell sick l It appeared to be of excessive length 1 and was of the color of blood. At l the summit of it was seen the figure l of a bent arm holding in it's hand q 1 great sword, as if about to strike. At fhe end of the point there were three stars. On both sides of the rays of . of axes. knives. blood-colered swords. among which were a great number of hideous human faces with boards and brstling hair
 The comet of 1i72 was apparently the first one to receive scientific studyi and not to be regarded solely as a cause of superstitious terror. A series Of observations were made in Fran hx.I Inh nf ]
 By the. time Of Tycho Brahe. while comets were not satisfactorily eX- planed. they were being considered as on more rational basis. and the correctness of the Aristotelian doc Urine was, as in other matters. being questioned It was believed before this that comets were generated in the, 1 higher regions of the atmosphere. but l in 1907. on the appeaBnec of brii- { liant comet. Tycho. in an elaborate series of observations. satisfied him. l self that the strange body was at least ! three times as far off as the moon. $ and also that it was revolving around I the sun in circular orbit at great CT distance than that Of Venus. Com cts were subsequently observed byl { Tycho and his pupils. It was but l
 
 Tycho. should have paid especial at tention to cYmets. In 1601 he ob- { served the comet now known as Hal ' ley's comet Kepler believed that ( comets were celestial bodies which, ' move in straight lines. and having I passed the earth ,recede indefinitelyi { into space Assuming that these strangers in the heavens would not ( he did not consider that their paths required serious study. for ! which reason he made no observations : to ascertain their movements and test ' his theory. Before Kepler. Jerome Fracastor and Peter Appian had ob- ] served that a comets tail always ] points away from the sun. no matter c in what direction it may be travelling, s and with this observation Keplerl | agreed. adding as explanation the a supposition that the tail was formed I by rays of the sun penetrating thei f body of the comet and carrying awayt i with them some portion of it's sub c stance. This theory. after due allow ( ance. has been made for the changel g in our conceptions of the nature of fight, is of interest as an anticipation [ lf the modern theory of comets tails | a Repler found himself compelled, in his b Treatise on Comets, in which the T