An introduction to astronomy: designed as a text-book for the use of students in college. By Denison Olmsted ...

or Saturn. Inl a p)erfeC t void, a speck of fog, if propelled by a
buitable proIjectile force), would revolve aroundl the sun, and
lold oil its w\ay througll the widest orbit, with as slure and
steady a pace as the heaviest and largest 3body in the systemn.
403: Th'1e Imost re'markable comet of the present century
]hitlherto observed, was the great cormet of 18 43. (See Plate I.
at thle end of tle volume.) Oll the S8th of Februanry of that,year, the attcntitton of nrllilotous observers ill various parts of
them world w'as 41arrested b'y a colmet sccn ill the broad lh ight of
day, a little ea<sttward of thle sun. lln MNexico it was obl)srve(d,
and its altitude repeatedly melaslurd with a sextant, fi'om nilne
in tihe llorningl{ it til sunset. iln New Inglt-lanld, it was seen at
soveral places f'om lhalf-past seven ill thle morning until after
thllre ill the afternoon, when the slky became obscured by haziiness and cloiuds. Accurate measures were taken by Capt.
(Cllark, at lPortland,:aine, of thlt distance of the nucleus fi'om
the s1n's1 limb. At 3h. 2 ll. 15s. mean time, thel distance of the
8lsun's fllrtlsts lilmb from thle nearest limb of the nucleulls \was
40 (' 15". The comert resembled a white cloud of great density,
_)einlg nearly equall); shiiung' tllroughout, with a nucleus as
brighlt as thet full moon fat midnight in at clear sl(y. During
the flirst A\week ill MA[arch, the apl)earancc of this body was
splelndit and magnificent, enhanced in bothl respects by tihe
t. ranlsparlency of a tropical s1ky, and the hligher algle of elevation above that at lhitct it w\ras seen by nortlhern observers.
A.At Ncw -Iavcn, it \ras firstl seen after sunset, oil tlle tll of
Mhlarchll. It then lay far in tlhe southwest. On account of the
p'csee of the l10oo1n, it was not SCeen most favorably tuntil the
ev"enlin- of thle t7th. It tlhen extended along the constellation
E]fidanus to tih ears of the fitare, below the feet of Orionl, reachillt' nearly to Sirius, bci3ng about,40~ ill lengtlf, althoulgh' ill the
tropica:l regions its alar'ent Ilength, at its mlaximum, was nearly
70. It was slightly curved lile a goose-quill, and colored Nwith
at slighlt tinge of rose-red, which ill a few eveings lisappearled,
and left it nearly a pearly white. Our diagiraam (Plate 1. at the
end of tlhe voluttm) presents a pretty accurate idea of its appeiaraneet on the 2Y0th of Marall..1Al the astronomelrs of tlho
a'c ht. ave ao-reed in the opinion that this is one of the most rcmlarkl.lable cxlsibiti;ons of a comet; everl witnessed, altltoulgh they