Show iw? mrr "Hmy r : t rJha'Hcrald JournaVCache Sunday March 30 1984—5 - The man who slept through two comets I slept through Halley’s Comet Apparently March 21 was the optimum day for viewing Halley’s Comet Every other morning at 4:30 am was either too cloudy ana overcast or (now) washed out by moonlight I set my alarm but when it rang I swore rolled over turned it off and went back to sleep It’s probably a family characteristic My father did the same thing And since he was a baby in 1910 the last time the comet came around Father may have twice slept through Halley’s But from all the media reports I gather that I didn’t miss much by missing Halley's in 1986 The most common description that I have read of what the thing looks like this year is "a hairy star’’ I’d rather sleep But then astronomers indicate that the Halley’s visitation of this year is one of the worst in recorded history as far as a spectacular display is concerned Apparently the 1910 visitation (the one Father also slept through) was much better It certainly got the coverage in the pages of “The Journal’’ in April and CO 3 i8 3 B' May of 1910 The comet received its first major coverage on the front page of “The Journal” on April 26 1910: "Just now everybody one sees is talking about the comet and every morning of late half the residents of the city have been getting up earlier than usual to take a look at the heavenly ? o ! visitor” There followed a calendar of observations for the week of April 20 to April 26 by Professor Skidmore of the Brigham Young College The college had the largest telescope in Logan and Professor Skidmore had been putting it to use studying Halley’s Most of his observations — & z s 0 1 3 indeed most of the article — could have been printed in today’s issue of The Herald Journal But there is one entry in that 1910 story that shows the time period The writer indicates where the comet can be found: “If you want to find it now sight along the telegraph poles of center street to mark a point on the Mountain which is due east It comes up over the round peak a few degrees north of this point It should brighten up rapidly for the next few days until it becomes a conspicuous object in the eastern sky” Halley's Comet on a close pass in May 1910 The old myth is that comets tell the death of kings and the visit of Halley’s comet in 1910 was no exception On May 6 King Edward VII of Great Britain died at Sandringham And on May 10 “The Journal” ran a picture of the king on the front page along with additional information about the comet and a description of it that gives a clear Stargazers flock to the outback astronomer track the celestial visitor aboard (UPI) - From Tasman fear it futurists By Stewart Slavin SYDNEY Aborigines to who believe who man may be able to hitchhike between the planets on it the next time around tens of thousands of people are plunking down millions for front row seats to Halley’s Comet Fleets of chartered jumbo jets will ferry thousands of Japanese amateur And luxury cruise ships one with Carl Sagan American will Sea from while plying the New Zealand to Australia But while space probes like Europe’s Giotto are making dramatic discoveries with their close encounters astronomers say the view of the event from below may prove disappointing for those expectastronomers to Australia’s vast ing a fireball with a spectacular tail starry outback The Concorde super- streaking across the sky sonic jetliner will chase the comet in Scientists say the peak viewing date g cham- is April 11 when the comet will come closest to ’Sarth pagne flights record-breakin- every-76-yea- rs Lyric theatre had changed hands and had been renamed “the Logan” It was scheduled to with its own "Out of Africa” kind of motion picture a movie devoted to the safari in Kenya of the former president of the United States The movie was “Roosevelt in indication that the 1910 visit was a lot more showy than that of 1986: “Just now the comet is nearly as long as the Dipper or about 22 million of miles in extent Its head is larger than any star in sight and is brighter than the Dipper starts” And like the invitation from the USU staff for the 1986 visit there was an Invitation for the 1910: "A good many people have an idea that a view of the comet through a telescope would be a great treat and for that reason Prof Skidmore has decided to place the BY College telescope at the disposal of those who want to take that kind of peep at the visitor He says that just about as good a view can be obtained however through a pair of good field glasses However if you want to see the comet through the telescope go down to the cement bridge over the canal on the east side of the BYC campus tomorrow morning at 3:15 re-op- en Africa” am” Of course as it did this year the comet had to share top billing with other news For instance the same issue that reported the availability of the BYC telescope also reported that the There were also plans for a city day a day whose success was reported in the paper on May 21 when the faculty of USU was given special credit for cleaning up The Boulevard between the city and the college hill A girl died after eating tainted ice cream and a press report indicated that Japanese newspapers were advocating the building of a fleet of battleships Pictures of King George V and Queen Mary dominated the paper for a couple of days after their accession to the British Throne and ads abounded for the sale of farm land around Bancroft and Soda Springs But the comet was still the big news On May 28 the Alumni of the BYC met for a banquet After the dinner a series of toasts was proposed EW Pehrson of the class of 1904 proposed a toast: “Qur Comet ' — A star of hope in a ' clean-u- p ‘ -- tlohdyskyJ‘ |