FAYE'S COMET OF 1843. 



133 



had hitherto been regarded as one of the most distinctive 

 features of comets. 



The position of its orbit in the heavens is very unstable. 

 At aphelion, its distance from the sun is five hundred and 

 sixty millions of miles, bringing it into close proximity 

 to the planet Jupiter. Such a conjunction happened in 

 1840, at which time the attraction of Jupiter for the comet 

 was about one tenth "part of the sun's, and must have pro- 

 duced a considerable alteration of its orbit. In 1815, the 

 comet probably came still nearer to Jupiter, by which its 

 former orbit must have been greatly changed. The for- 

 mer path of this comet may, therefore, have been very 

 different from that which it pursued in 1843, and M. Yalz 

 expressed the opinion that this comet was identical with 

 the famous comet of 1770. The latter comet, at its ap- 



