http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file
For complete access to all the files of this collection
	see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php 
==========================================================
feb 7 06 motd, thunder

In Robert Chapman's and John Brandt's The Comet Book certain details of
Biela's return are fascinating. The discovery of a partner occurred on
January 13, 1846, when "a faint satellite comet was observed a small
distance from the main comet". Two tails were seen parallel to each other.
"Over the next month the fainter of the two comets increased in brightness
and finally became brighter than the 'main' comet. The situation then
reversed and the main comet became the brighter one again. In addition,
the main comet grew a second tail and a luminous bridge of material joined
the two comets" [emphasis ours].  At this time the two nuclei were apart
an estimated 250,000 kilometers, about two thirds of the distance
separating Earth and the Moon.

Donnelly's account at this point diverges from the history told by Chapman
and Brandt. As Donnelly tells it, "In 1852, 1859, and 1866, the comet
should have returned, but it did not".  But Chapman and Brandt--prominent
figures at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center at the time of their book's
publication--say that the twin comet-heads did indeed appear at the
appointed time in 1852. This reappearance is, in fact, well documented.
And one detail in Chapman's and Brandt's account rarely shows up in
standard discussions of cometology:

"...Both comets returned at the predicted time, though they were over 2
million kilometers apart [emphasis ours]. Once again the two comets took
turns as the brighter of the pair. On at least one occasion a bright jet
was seen between the two heads" [emphasis ours].

The spectacular meteor shower that inspired Klinkerfues to identify it
with Biela has long since become an annual event--sort of--called the
Andromedids. And astronomers do not hesitate to connect the shower to
Biela.  Each year the Earth passes through the remains of the comet, but
with widely varying consequences. And the effect today is trivial by
comparison with the November 1872 occurrence. Today the shower peaks
around mid-November, averaging less than three meteors per hour--hardly
deserving the title "shower". On the night of November 27, 1872, however,
records show several thousand meteors per hour--a direct and obvious link
to the disintegration of the comet.