The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-04-29
had been studied for nearly year that tne presence of a new world in the solar system was revealed.

that tRe presence of new world in the solar system was revealed.
 Figure 2 shows the situation of the
 path of the new comet with reference
 to the position of the earths orbit
 and to that of the sun. The comet is
 moving about the sun in the same direction as the earth is, but it's path lies in a different plane, the comet
 plane being inclined 25 degrees to
 the plane in which the earth moves.
 The comet passed above the latter
 plane at the point A. but it was not
 discovered until 1t had reached the
 position B. It will pass the point of
 it's orbit which is nearest the sun on
 June Is, and will be at it's least dis itance from the earth on August 21.
 At this time it will be 91,700,OO0 miles away from us.
 As the great cloud moves along its orbit. it should appear to us to grow |constantly brighter, both because it is drawing nearer to us and because lit is drawing nearer to the sun. The latter source of increase acts in two ways, both by increasing the illum- Iination by sunlight of it's opaque mat ter and by intensifying the excitation of it's self-luminous material either through electrical disturbance of oth- erwise, It is easy to show that if the comet thus brightens in normal man ner 1t should during next summer be- come fully 200 times as bright as when first discovered and hence should be easily visible to the naked eye.
 Unfortunately, however, these bodies frequently grow inherently brighter or fainter in quite capricious man. ner, and we cannot therefore at all predict how conspicuous the present comet will grow. Observations made toward the end of March indicated that the comet is not brightening so rapidly as 1t normally should.
 If the reader will imagine himself standing on the moving earth of Fig ure and continuously watching the comet as 1t moves along the path AGE he can readily picture roughly to him. self what it's apparent motion among | the stars will be. Evidently 1t will mount continually higher in the heav- ems and also run quite rapidly west ward among the cancellations until lit has come to the neigh borhood of the position C, when 1t will begin to move downward and it's westward mo-
 ton will become very slow, or cease altogether. The true path Is shown in Figure 3, which represents the south eastern heavens as viewed on May 1 at a. nl., or on May 31 at a. m. As this region will be well up from the ground by Il p. m. during the month or August (Wn1ch IS the time or
 the comets greatest brightness), it
 will then be in very favorable position for observation.
 THE PLANETS IN MAY
 Mercury, which reached it's greatest elongation east of the sun on April A, may still be seen, though with
 some difficulty. during the first few
 days of May It should be looked for
 in the northwest and very near the
 horizon until about three quarters of
 an hour after sunset. It Is in the con
 stellation Taurus. near the Pleiades,
 and shines with two and one-half times the brightness of a first mag
 nitude star. Mercury will enter the morning sky on May 16 and will aft erward attain its greatest distance
 west of the sun on June H.
 Venus entered the evening sky on April 26. and though it Is steadily
 emerging from the sun's rays, it sets
 but about 50 minutes after the sun seteby the end of the month. Toward this time it should be looked for very far to the northwest and low in the twilight glow Notwithstanding it's proximity to the sun, it can readily be found. for it now shines with GO times the brightness of a first mag nitude star.
 Mars rises about 50 minutes before