PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2921, 9 March 1910, Page 85

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

V.—A WORD OR TWO ON COMETS. LIST OF APPEARANCES OP HALLEY'S COMET. Below I am giving the appearances of Halley's Comet, going back as far as 240 B.C. The- table this is taken from in Science Progress gives other details, but I too. omitting what are not essential or the general reader. The orbital time is given in days (Julian) to get over various diuculties—changing from old style to new style, and so on. Notice that the time varies from 27,180 days (74 years 170 days) to 28,990 days (79 years 155 days), the differences being mainly due to influences and position of the four outside planets ; and; notice, too, how much the Chinese were ahead in observations up to the last four centuries. The blanks in the " seen " column indicate that there were no records of observations. In these cases, the date according to astronomical calculations has been inserted. The full columns give day of perihelion, and April 17 is given as the coming perihelion, though a note is added stating that some authorities give the date a month or two later. As will no .doubt be inferred, the four appearances corning first weie before Christ, B.C. and a.d. being omitted to save space: • ~

cometary influences—good AND EVIL. A great deal has been written upon the beneficent and malign influences —mainly the latter —that comets have supposedly exercised; and Halley’s Comet, owing to its many returns and ; ts prominent appearance, has been answerable for a good deal. Just to note two:—“lt was regarded as a presage of the 1 conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy. This gave rise to some verses. . . . According to a poet of that time, the comet had been more favourable to William than Nature to Caesar; the latter had no hair, William received some from the comet:

Ccesariem, Caesar, tibi si Natura. negavifc, Hanc, Willelme, tibi steila Comata dedit. Was this hair the crown of England? A. monk, of Malmesbury, seeing his country ;.on the point of-being -attacked on the one side, by Hajjold,, King of Norway, on theotheivby William, and concluding that blood would be shed, addressed vhki comet thus: ' I see you then, origin of the tears of many mothers; I have seen you for long, but now you appear more terrible; you threaten my country with entire ruin.' " The situation is vividly portrayed on the Bayeux tapestry, where a group of

Normans are shown excitedly gazing at, the comet, which l s shown above them with a long flaming tail, and the legend, ' Isti mirantur stellam.' In the next compartment a messenger announces to Harold the advent of the comet and of the Norsemen, whose ships are shown below. Harold is in great agitation at the combination of misfortunes, and appears to totter on his throne. William appears to have reassured his courtfers who were also anxious, by saying that such a comet only appeared when a kingdom wanted a king." Th* second instance I have chosen to refer to is connected with the advance of the Turks, into Europe. Ir 1453 Constantinople had fallen into their hands, and they were pursuing their' triumphal march onwards, and were before the walls of Belgrade, when Halley's Comet, " the celestial omen taken as a proof of divine anger," appeared in the sky.. One writer, however, says: "Some persons . '.' . perceiving the cpmet in the form of a long sword advancing from the west, and approaching the moon, thought that it presaged that the Christian inhabitants of the "west would come to in agreement to march against the Turks, and would gain a victory. And the Turks, on their part, taking "into consideration the state of affairs, fell into no small feaTS, and entered into serious arguments as to the will of Allah." Camille Flammarion, in one of his astronomical works, writes: " Feeling ran high in Europe. . . . The moment was decisive; the Christians had to be rescued from a struggle in which they were being worsted. At thk conjuncture Pope Calixtus resuscitated a. prayer that had fallen into disuse (the Ange]us), and ordered that the bells of the churches should be rung at noon, that the faithful might join at the same hour in prayer against the Turks and the comet. This custom has lasted down to our day"—though its origin has been forgotten." Most text books or books written for popular, reading repeat this story. But according to Father Gerard, in an article in The Month, this is a pure fiction, for t'bf bulls of Calixtus 111 are extant, and contain no reference to the comet. The story seems to have been originated by a writer named Platan a, who said that most learned men of the day predictec 1 a pestilence and that Cslixtus made the suggestion that if such ?vils were threatened it would be just as welt if the Christian army prayed to "be spared from them. The-re was nothing in the way of a command The appearance of the comet in 1759 synchronised with the happening of great events for Great Britain; these I alluded to a previous Chat. Now to conclude. In writing this shortseries I have learnt much myself. The time taken up has been more than many would probably imagine; but the result to me—perhaps to my readers too—has been worth it. Even now I know very little, about comets •, but, then, astronomer: admit that they know very little about them" themselves, anc 1 great differences of opinion exist among them as to what comet's are, what causes their tails, whence they (the comets) come, and. where they go; and so on. ' The Southern Hemisphere, on account of the length of the night, will see Halley's Comet in it& fullest splendour, but in all probability it will not appear in its glory of 3066 or even of later dates; "but with the aid of the spectroscope and the camera we may hope to interpret' these changes much more fully than when last seen in, 1835. Bu* apart- from its intrinsic splendour, the comet has such an interesting history and- linki. the centuries together so wonderfully that no one gifted with the smallest degree of imagination can fail to follow its course with the deepest interest, and with renewed admiration for the great English astronomer whose name it bears, and who discovered its periodicity in such a brilliant manner " Next week I'll have a Chat on "The Swadeshi Movement" in India.

No. PERIHELION. Days of Interval. Seen. 1 240. Muv 28,129 China. 2 161. May 27,846 / 3 87. Aug. ‘27,448 China. 4 12. Oct., 27,869 . China, Rome. 5 66. Jan. 27,817 China. 6 141. Mar. 27,771 China. 7 218. Apr. 23,125 China, Rome. 8 295. Apr. 28 704 China. 9 373. Nov. 28,332 China. 10 451. July 28,990 China,' Rome. 11 - 630. Nov. 27,890 China, Europe, 12 6‘.7. Mar, 23,370 China. 13 684. Nov. 27,691 China, Japan. 14 760. June 28.018 China. 15 837. Feb. 27,638 China. 16 912. July 28,182 — 17 989. Sept. 27,950 China, Europe. 18 1063. Mar. 28,880 China. 19 1145. Apr. 28,268 China. 20 1222. Sept. 28,898 China, Europe. 21 1301. Oct. 28.111 China, Europe. 22 1378. Nov. 28,336 China. 23 1456. June 27,472 China, Europe. 24 1581. Aug-. — — 25 1607. Oct. 27,811 Europe. 26 1682. Sept. 27,352 Europe. 27 1159. Mar. 27,937 Europe. 28 1835. Nov. 28,016 ■ World. 29 1910. Apr. 27,180 World.