Page:The story of the comets.djvu/57

III. perfectly continuous life history of a comet has never been obtained. Moreover those who studied it were bounteously rewarded by the number of unexpected transformations which they saw.

The first of these transformations occurred from September 30 to October 2. On September 29 the tail showed no signs of the coming catastrophe, being perfectly normal. During the next 24 hours it presented unprecedented activities. Its appearance changed continuously throughout the night of September 30, these changes ending on October 1 in a complete disruption. The photographs on the former date showed a bright contracted coma joined to the tail by a narrow tapering neck. Near the head the tail was strong, violently twisted, and cyclonic in form. At about 1° from the head it spread into a broad fan-shaped mass which was very irregular on the s p side, and extended for 8° as a bright curved projection on the n f. October 1 will be memorable as the date on which the comet lost its tail; and it disappeared to all but the photographic eye. The great masses which had formed the tail on the previous night were now seen some 2° out from the coma and attached to it by slender streamers. The nucleus was the same as on the former plate. It was the tail that was gone. Photographs of October 2 show 3 distinct tails; one broad and fan-shaped, and two smaller ones. They were all faint and changing slowly.

The second great disturbance began on October 15. This was wholly different from the one just described. The plate of October 14 showed a tail at least 7° long with distinct lines running through it longitudinally. It was bright, with marked irregularities near the head. The 12 hours that followed recorded extraordinary changes. The comet had broken in two. The photographs taken in the United States show two great condensations in the tail about $1⁄2$° from the head. A bright, short, spike-like projection, with one end between the two masses and the broad end attached to the coma, formed the new tail. The old tail was very faint, irregular in outline, and curved on its s p side. Photographs taken at the observatory of Geneva by Pidoux at 7h 35m