News and Miscellany

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 21, 1873

News and Miscellany.

“Can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

Biela’s Comet Broken to Pieces.

PROF. H. A. NEWTON, of Yale, writes as follows to the New Haven papers:

Sunday evening, between 7½ and 12½ o’clock, were counted about 250 shooting stars, of which over three-fourths radiated from Gamma Andromedae. These meteoric bodies evidently form a part of what was formerly called Biela’s comet. In 1846 that body was seen to divide into two comets, which, at their next return in 1852, were a million and a quarter miles apart. Since that time neither portion of the comet has been seen, though their third passage of the node should have taken place about six weeks ago. Astronomers have been suspecting that it had entirely gone to pieces, and that it would not again be seen. Sunday evening were seen, as above stated, about 250 fragments of the comet. A larger number of observers would, probably, have been able to count 700 or 800 in the time named. The process of breaking up has evidently been going on a long time. Mr. Herrick saw, in 1838, Dec. 6, quite a number of fragments, though he did not then know that they had any connection with this or any comet.