Comets.

Otago Witness, Issue 1583, 25 March 1882, Page 29

Comets.

Professor R. S. Bell, the royal astronomer of Ireland, lectured recently on " Comets " at the London Institution, Finsbury circus, making special reference to the comets of last year which he said were of a very remarkable character. The one that visited them last June was first seen in the Southern Hemisphere, where it was visible for several weeks before it was observed in these regions at all. The Emperor of Brazil, who took the liveliest interest in astronomy, was one of the earliest who intimated tothem its approach, and when it burst upon their view it showed its modesty to choose a dark part of the sky — the northern regions — to showagood tail. Had it appeared in the winter it would nave ranked among tho great comets of the present century, foi^it had a tail 20,000,000 miles long. It travelled with great velocity, and when nearing the sun its speed was 30 miles a second. An ordinary operaglass gave the best view of a comet, not a telescope. It was difficult to say whether the comet of last June had ever visited them before, as it was difficult to establish its personal indentity. A comet could change everything about it ; but of one thing they were certain— viz., that it moved in a particular ellipse or oval. In regard to the material of comets, it had been ,'proved that stars could be seen through the tails, showing that the material was nothing less than clouds floating in the sky. It contained enormous bulk, but it could not be weighed by the scales which astronomers had at their command. Fears had been expressed-as to what would result from a collision between the earth and a comet, but such fears had been proved to be groundless, for such a contact took place on June 30fch, 1861, and no harm whatever resulted thereby to anyone. Although on that day the earth was buried in the tail of a comet few people noticed it. Comets were excessively light, and their tails were invariably directed away from the sun. As a whole, comets obeyed the law of gravitation, the tails were formed with"great rapidity, and they were connected with the beautiful phenomenon of shooting stars, the great shower of 18G6 being connected with a certain comet. It was possible that in shooting stars thc-y might have the debris of comets, and it had been shown that tho element of carbon had something to do with comely, that element being of vital importance, which was widely spread throughout the celestial spaco. Tn conclusion, the lecturer said thai in ancient days comets wero looked upoa as a portent of evil, but modern science had shown that they did wot threaten or 4efatroy f ,