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
- CHAPTER VIII PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF COMETS
- SECTION I AIGRETTES–LUMINOUS SECTORS–NUCLEAL EMISSIONS
- SECTION II OSCILLATIONS OF LUMINOUS SECTORS: COMET OF 1862
- SECTION III DUPLICATION OF BIELA'S COMET
- SECTION IV DOUBLE COMETS MENTIONED IN HISTORY
- 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 II - OSCILLATIONS OF LUMINOUS SECTORS: COMET OF 1862
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
- CHAPTER VIII PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF COMETS
- SECTION I AIGRETTES–LUMINOUS SECTORS–NUCLEAL EMISSIONS
- SECTION II OSCILLATIONS OF LUMINOUS SECTORS: COMET OF 1862
- SECTION III DUPLICATION OF BIELA'S COMET
- SECTION IV DOUBLE COMETS MENTIONED IN HISTORY
- 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
M. Chacornac's observations upon the comet of 1862–Formation of luminous sectors emanating from the nucleus–Oscillation of aigrettes, and flowing back of the nucleal matter.
We are now about to give our attention to the evolutions of the luminous sectors of the great comet of 1862, which, on the contrary, presented oscillations analogous to those exhibited by the aigrettes of Halley's comet. We shall follow the development of these phenomena by means of the observations of the late M. Chacornac.
On August 10, 1862, M. Chacornac detected in the head of the comet the presence of a luminous aigrette, a brilliant sector directed towards the sun. This sector, which at three o'clock in the morning included an angle of 46°, had, by two o'clock on the following day, opened ‘ like the corolla of a convolvulus, and included 65°. On the 10th the nucleus presented the appearance of a rocket, having a diameter much more extended in the direction of the radius vector than at right angles to it.’ It is worthy of remark that the contrary was the case with the nuclei of the comets of 1858 and 1861, which were flattened in the direction of the radius vector. On the 11th the two diameters were nearly equal. New sectors disengaged themselves successively from the nucleus, and on August 26 M. Chacornac determined that between the 10th and the 26th they had succeeded each other to the number of thirteen.
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- The World of Comets , pp. 254 - 257Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010