Nothing to fear from the arrival of comet
"ON 20th May the tail of Halley's Comet will probably sweep over the path of the earth," wrote a News Letter reader this week in 1910 in response to concerns which had been raised by another reader about the impending arrival of Halley's Comet in the skies above the Province.
But they added: "We need not fear the encounter at the distance of over 14 million miles from the comet's nucleus.
"In the recollection of the writer, the fine comet which suddenly appeared in this country on the evening of 30th June 1861, passed within the earth's orbit, and its tail also swept over the earth's path that day, but no visible effect was produced on our planet.
"In a conversation, over a quarter of a century, with the late Mr R A Proctor, the well-known writer on astronomy, I mentioned that I had seen, in the spring of 1843, the great comet which had the longest tail of any recorded comet, as it extended over the visible heavens and was lost in the horizon, and Mr Proctor expressed the opinion that 'you might squeeze the comet's tail into the crown of your hat, so great is its tenuity'."
The letter writer went on to give some fascinating details of when Halley's Comet might be seen in the skies over Ulster.
They wrote: "Halley's Comet will not likely be visible to the naked eye until after it passes perihelion on April 20th, as it will be immersed in the solar rays and twilight from the beginning of March, in passing behind the sun on the 26th of that month.
"But the comet will probably be observed by telescopes down to four or five inches aperture in January or February, after sunset, towards the west, during the absence of moonlight.
"At present the comet is situated in Aries, about 12 degrees south of Haemal, the principal star in that constellation, and to the east of, and not very far from, the planets Mars and Saturn, the brilliant planet Venus shining conspicuously to the south west of these, being on the meridian (south), about 5pm.
"Towards the end April the comet will become a conspicuous morning star, and will remain visible as such until May 12, but we will be obliged to get up about two and half hours before sunrise to see it.
"About that date the comet will then again become immersed in the sun's rays, and this time pass between the earth and the solar orb on the early morning of May 20, when we, in this country, will be on the right side of the earth, but the comet may possibly be seen in Australia near its transit over the disc of the sun, or up to its limb, when viewed in the telescope, as was seen in the case of the great comet of 1882 by the astronomers at the Cape Observatory."
In concluding their letter to the News Letter the Belfast stargazer cautioned: "The best display of the comet by the naked eye will be during the last 10 days in May, in the evening sky, towards the west, though the presence of the moon will prove a source of interference with the brilliancy, and the summer twilight will also take away from its conspicuousness."
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Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 15 February 2012
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