HALLEY'S COMET.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 787, 9 April 1910, Page 5

HALLEY'S COMET.

SEEN IN MELBOURNE. /. Vj Teleeraph—Press Assooiition-Oopyrieht (Rec. April 9,..l a.m.) . Melbourne, April- 8./ Bailey's comet was seen for the first time this morning.,,- 'It rises a .few minutes before the sun's, glare at the breaking of day, thus making observations impossible. " : '.■■,..''.'•'''•', '.'"■■-'■''■.---."■■, ..-.'■" NO D/iNCER '.F.Rb'MVTH'E.-'TAIL...' PROPOSAL'"TO r BOTTLE : tHE AIR '' ' ": : :'ON : ;MAr-iB./;■; Professor H, "H. Turner, who holds the .Savihan, professorship of Astronomy, at: Oxford held by Halley in 1704, lectured to a audience at the Royal Institute in'Albemarle Street on February 18 on, Halley's comet. In'the course of. 'a, .fascinating; address, Professor Turner , made, this very striking suggestion: ■""'• ;■,.'' . . "On May-18.we shall be in the tail of the comet. ; -" If: you like to bottle some of : the air and : hand it down to your grandchildren they will have in ; their possession some "of Halley's comet of 1910. ;.-,. .; : .;-./'..'.■". . : "I think,"- added/the lecturer,, "that this institution ."■ ought to bottle large quantities of air on that .night,' and find out ; what is, really ih; the comet's tail." ■-•:--'':.•;.■■:;.-■' ''-._■ "

Professor Turner dismissed any fear that -may exist; of'the consequences of passing through, the .comet's"'tail by stating • that .only one hundred-thou-sandth, part ; of the air on May 18 will be comet's tail:", ';

'■'■■'■ From the investigations of Professor A. ; . Fowler, of tbe Royal College of Scjenco, South 'Kensington, it would seenv'said' Professor Turner, that thescohteiits of the tail are. similar to some substanco which. is present , in a tube which lias' contained.' hydrogen ' when , the hydrogen is extracted. What that substance is Professor. Fowler has not yet.heen able to determine, but it has the. same spectrum as the comet's tail, and • therefore it is reasonably certain that this extremely attenuated.and'unknown substance found in the hydrogen tube is .present in the tail,' and some of it' will bo .added, to tfte air we breathe on the nightof May 18. ~ • ■: Some,of tho peculiarities of the tails of comets .were' described by Professor Turner .with tbe aid of graphic drawings and lantern slides.' ' Sometimeß, he observed, comets'lose, their tails. That is not always because the tail disappears, but sometimes' because it is behind ■ the comet, and for a time, therefore, invisible. At times 'the tail lies across tho direction of movement pointing away from the sun, and'apparently blown outwards by some force from the sun. This, force which blows the tail of ther comet.from the sun "like chaff" is either electrical 1 or; the light of the sun itself, which has a force of its own. The dissipation. of the tails of comets is now accepted, as a fact, 1 and leads to the conclusion that comets 'gradually grow smaller until they "pro-, bably break,up into small meteors." ''