Identifier: youngfolkslibrar11aldr (find matches)
Title: Young folks library
Year: 1902 (1900s)
Authors: Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, 1836-1907
Subjects: Children's literature
Publisher: Boston, CT : Hall and Locke
Contributing Library: Internet Archive
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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nded with six otherdying comets. Thus displaced from its ordinary routeby these slight shocks, it did not pursue its true ellipti-cal orbit; so that the unfortunate thing was precipitatedinto the devouring centre of the Sun. It is said,added he, that the poor comet, thus burned ahve, sentforth dreadful cries! It will be interesting, then, in a double point of view,to follow a comet in its different passages in sight ofthe Earth. Let us take the most important in astro-nomical history — the one whose orbit has been calcu-lated by Edmund Halley, and which was named afterhim. It was in 1682 that this comet appeared in itsgreatest brilHancy, accompanied with a tail which didnot measure less than thirty-two millions of miles. Bythe observation of the path which it described in theheavens, and the time it occupied in describing it, thisastronomer calculated its orbit, and recognized that thecomet was the same as that which was admired in 1531and 1607, and which ought to have reappeared in
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A Comet Comets 255 1759. Never did scientific prediction excite a morelively interest. The comet returned at the appointedtime; and on the 12th of March, 1759, reached itsperihelion. Since the year 12 before the Christian era,it had presented itself twenty-four times to the Earth.It was principally from the astronomical annals ofChina that it was possible to follow it up to thisperiod. Its first memorable appearance in the history ofFrance is that of 837, in the reign of Louis le Debon-naire. An anonymous writer of chronicles of thattime, named The Astronomer, gave the followingdetails of this appearance, relative to the influence ofthe comet on the imperial imagination: ^^ During the holy days of the solemnization ofEaster, a phenomenon ever fatal, and of gloomy fore-boding, appeared in the heavens. As soon as theEmperor, who paid attention to these phenomena,received the first announcement of it, he gave himselfno rest until he had called a certain learned man andmyself before him.

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