The story of the sun, moon, and stars . from him thanNeptune. As this comet draws gradually closer, hehas to make up for the added pull of the suns in-creasing attraction by rushing onward with greaterand greater rapidity, till he whirls madly past the sun,and then, with slowly slackening speed, journeys far-ther and farther away, creeps at length lazily roundthe farther end of his orbit in the chill, dark, neigh-borhood of Neptune, and once more travels towardsthe sun with growing haste. Enckes Comet has a year of only three and ahalf of our years, so he may be said to live quite inour midst.
The story of the sun, moon, and stars . from him thanNeptune. As this comet draws gradually closer, hehas to make up for the added pull of the suns in-creasing attraction by rushing onward with greaterand greater rapidity, till he whirls madly past the sun,and then, with slowly slackening speed, journeys far-ther and farther away, creeps at length lazily roundthe farther end of his orbit in the chill, dark, neigh-borhood of Neptune, and once more travels towardsthe sun with growing haste. Enckes Comet has a year of only three and ahalf of our years, so he may be said to live quite inour midst. But many comets travel much fartheraway than the one named after Halley. It is calcu-lated of some that, if they ever return at all, it can notbe for many hundreds of years. 11 Newtons Comet, seen about two centuries ago,has a journey to perform of such length that he is VISITORS. 79 not expected again to appear for several thousandyears. Yet, at the nearest point in his orbit, he ap-proached the sun so closely, that the heat which he. PASSAGE OF THE COMET OF 1843 CLOSE TO THE SUN (FEBRUARY27TH, IO HOURS, 29 MINUTES.) endured was about two thousand times that of red-hot iron. Changes were seen to be taking place inhis shape, as he drew near to the sun, and days he was hidden in the suns rays. He van-ished, with a tail streaming millions of miles behind 80 STORY OF THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS. him. He made his appearance again with a tailstreaming millions of miles in front of him. Bnt howthis wonderful movement took place is beyond manspower to explain. The comet of 1843 was one of the most attractiveseen during the present century. It was first observedin March, and it appeared with a suddenness which hadquite a startling effect. It was an imposing object inthe southern regions. The comet was seen in Italyon the 28th of February; at Washington, on the 6thof March; at Oporto, on the 14th ; but owing to unfa-vorable weather, it was not visible in England, or anyof
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidstor, booksubjectastronomy
