Book contents
- Frontmatter
- EDITOR'S PREFACE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS RELATIVE TO COMETS
- CHAPTER II COMETARY ASTRONOMY UP TO THE TIME OF NEWTON
- CHAPTER III THE MOTIONS AND ORBITS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IV PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER V PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER VI THE WORLD OF COMETS AND COMETARY SYSTEMS
- CHAPTER VII PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION OF COMETS
- SECTION I COMETS PHYSICALLY CONSIDERED
- SECTION II COMETARY NUCLEI, TAILS, AND COMÆ
- SECTION III COMETS DEVOID OF NUCLEUS AND TAIL
- SECTION IV DIRECTION OF THE TAILS OF COMETS
- SECTION V NUMBER OF TAILS
- SECTION VI DIFFERENT FORMS OF TAILS
- SECTION VII LENGTH OF TAILS
- SECTION VIII FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF TAILS
- SECTION IX BRILLIANCY OF COMETS
- SECTION X DIMENSIONS OF NUCLEI AND TAILS
- CHAPTER VIII PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IX MASS AND DENSITY OF COMETS
- CHAPTER X THE LIGHT OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XI THEORY OF COMETARY PHENOMENA
- CHAPTER XII COMETS AND SHOOTING STARS
- CHAPTER XIII COMETS AND THE EARTH
- CHAPTER XIV PHYSICAL INFLUENCES OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XV SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT COMETS
- I ELLIPTIC ELEMENTS OF THE RECOGNISED PERIODICAL COMETS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
- II GENERAL CATALOGUE OF THE ORBITS OF COMETS
- Plate section
SECTION VII - LENGTH OF TAILS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- EDITOR'S PREFACE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS RELATIVE TO COMETS
- CHAPTER II COMETARY ASTRONOMY UP TO THE TIME OF NEWTON
- CHAPTER III THE MOTIONS AND ORBITS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IV PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER V PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER VI THE WORLD OF COMETS AND COMETARY SYSTEMS
- CHAPTER VII PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION OF COMETS
- SECTION I COMETS PHYSICALLY CONSIDERED
- SECTION II COMETARY NUCLEI, TAILS, AND COMÆ
- SECTION III COMETS DEVOID OF NUCLEUS AND TAIL
- SECTION IV DIRECTION OF THE TAILS OF COMETS
- SECTION V NUMBER OF TAILS
- SECTION VI DIFFERENT FORMS OF TAILS
- SECTION VII LENGTH OF TAILS
- SECTION VIII FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF TAILS
- SECTION IX BRILLIANCY OF COMETS
- SECTION X DIMENSIONS OF NUCLEI AND TAILS
- CHAPTER VIII PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IX MASS AND DENSITY OF COMETS
- CHAPTER X THE LIGHT OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XI THEORY OF COMETARY PHENOMENA
- CHAPTER XII COMETS AND SHOOTING STARS
- CHAPTER XIII COMETS AND THE EARTH
- CHAPTER XIV PHYSICAL INFLUENCES OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XV SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT COMETS
- I ELLIPTIC ELEMENTS OF THE RECOGNISED PERIODICAL COMETS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
- II GENERAL CATALOGUE OF THE ORBITS OF COMETS
- Plate section
Summary
Apparent and real dimensions of the largest tails on record–Formation and development of cometary appendages; their disappearance–Variations of length in the tail of Halley's comet at its different apparitions–Great comet of 1858, or comet of Donati.
Since we have entered upon the statistics of various cometary elements, let us here give a few particulars respecting the real and apparent dimensions of cometary tails. We will first confine ourselves to the maximum dimensions under which they have been viewed from the earth, dimensions measured in degrees, according to the apparent extent occupied by the train itself in the celestial vault. Passing, then, from the apparent lengths, we will proceed to the actual measures expressed in miles. Under the first head the scale of magnitude will be found to include an enormous range, varying from the tail of 2½°, belonging to the comet of 1851, to the immense tail of 100°, possessed by the comet of 1264, and to the still greater tail of the comet of 1861, which attained a length of 118°, thus exceeding by 28° the apparent distance between the horizon and the zenith. Nor are the differences less considerable when we compare the true dimensions.
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- The World of Comets , pp. 221 - 223Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1877