HALLEY'S COMET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 390, 16 May 1910, Page 5

HALLEY'S COMET.

A GORGEOUS SIGHT. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Washington, May 13. Messrs. Forbes and Yates, who came to grief in a long distance balloon voyage, are recovering. They reach an altitude of 2000 feet. They state that the comet presented a gorgeous sight owing to the absence of terrestrial dust. The head was brilliant, and there was a long veil-like pnospohorescent tail. Photographs were taken.

The aeronauts suffered from want of oxygen. Their final fall was 300 feet, and their lives were saved by the rubber air mattresses at the bottom of their basket.

REPORT FROM MEANEE OBSERVATORY. By Telegraph—Press Association. Napier, May 14. Father Allen, of Meanee Observatory, writes as follows, under to-day's date: "Halley'9 Comet was visible to the naked eye this morning through 35 degrees of the heavens and through 18 million miles of its length. *The passing of the moon from tne morning sky allows us now to see the whole of the tail. There can no longer be any douibt that the earth will pass well within the tail of the comet with at least three million miles to spare. Careful measurements from photographs taken this morning show that the head of the comet is seventy-nine thousand miles through, and fifteen million miles from the head at the place will enter on Thursday evening next. The width of the tails is somewhat more than two million mile 9. The earth will therefore spend at least fourteen hours in the journey through the tail."

An Okato correspondent writes under Friday's date:—

'The comet is getting to 'be a giant. This morninsr when I measured its tail it was double the distance away from Venus. That would make it twenty degrees long. The nucleus is now blue and star like, onlv it does not twinkle like a star. The nucleus was the color of Saturn on Anril 24th. Saturn has come on the mornins scene, being in the iglow to the east of the comet. The comet has nractieally been immovable since April 24. when it first became conspicuous to the naked eve. How it is to so round the sun in six days seems, to be impossible, as the sun is own? to the east. Tt is no wonder the comot caused a writer to sav of it in 1082, "All Europe tremble''." T note the passages of the comet throuffh nerihelion were—Tn 1378. November 8: 1450. .Tunc R- 1531. Ausrust 25: 1007. October 2(i: 10S2. Sentember M: 1750. Maiy-h 12: 1835. November 16; 1010. May 10. So 1450 is the liM, to 1010. Pummer perihelions arp unfavorable to Fn<rlawl. who=p latitude is 50de<*. N. rrobablv. Thn rpnrs 137S and 1«35 '\vpro more terriblp in En«rlmnd. The, pemntor. of cour<=p. is th» best nlnce to we it. Tt != a. b ; cr evert in tV world's inrl «pem« to bp delaying the King's funeral.