Halley’s Comet 1910 Visit Stirs Up St. Pete
Halley’s comet last appeared in 1986 and will next appear in 2061. The celestial body appears cyclically every 75 to 79 years and has been observed and recorded as early as 240 BCE. But it was not until 1705 that astronomer Edmond Halley determined the cyclical appearances were reappearances of the same comet. And thus, the comet was named after him. The comet itself is composed of a nucleus described by some scientists as a “rubble pile” of ice, dust, and frozen methane, and a “coma” or tail composed of volatiles like water, methane, ammonia, and carbon dioxide.
In 1986, Soviet probes Vega 1 and 2 made fly-bys of the comet and took the first images of its nucleus. Additional probes followed, launched by the European Space Agency and Japan, collectively known as the “Halley Armada.” Two US Space Shuttle missions were scheduled to observe Halley’s comet from low Earth orbit. The STS-51-L mission carried the Shuttle Pointed Tool for Astronomy satellite, also called the “Halley’s Comet Experimental Deployable.” The mission ended in disaster when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in flight, killing all seven astronauts onboard. After the Challenger disaster, the second shuttle mission was cancelled. Overall, the 1986 appearance of Halley’s comet was the least favorable known. The comet and Earth were on opposite sides of the Sun, creating the worst viewing circumstance possible.
Prior to 1986, the comet last appeared in the Tampa Bay area in 1910. The then-St. Petersburg Times published an account of the comet’s pass-by, likely written by editor William L. Straub: “Wide-eyed persons in all parts of Tampa yesterday peered at Halley’s comet through smoked glasses. They saw a great, gleaming ball, nearly as large to the eyes as the sun itself, approach the solar luminary and glide past it. At the moment of contact, one could not repress a slight shiver of apprehension.”
During that year, for the first time spectroscopic analysis was used to analyze the tail of the comet and the presence of toxic cyanogen gas was discovered. A French astronomer, Camille Flammarion, was misquoted as saying the gas “would impregnate the atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet.” He actually said, “The poisoning of humanity by deleterious gases is improbable,” and that the matter in the comet’s tail was so tenuous that it would have no noticeable effect. However, he then went on to speculate what might happen were the comet to pass through Earth’s atmosphere, which would not have been good. Despite his reassurances and those of other scientists, the damage had already been done as panic broke out in some parts of the country with people buying gas masks, “anti-comet pills,” and “anti-comet umbrellas.”
Straub’s Times article continued, “For several hours of the day, this Earth of ours was declared by scientists to be enveloped in the gaseous vapors of its tail. We saw it not, neither did we feel it. There were no meteoric showers, no auroras, no atmospheric disturbances. Our old globe, which has encountered the shocks of ages and upon which countless generations have wrought and fought and won and lost and lived and died, passed through this little experience none the worse – emerged with the same eternity, long aspect of indestructability, the sublime regularity of its revolution and evolution undisturbed and uninterrupted.”
As if in the interest of balanced news, adjacent to this article/editorial, was a column entitled, “Suffered from Comet Gas.” The article reported that during the passage of the comet an employee of the Eureka Stone Paving Company “was suddenly taken with an uncontrollable fit of laughing and shouting. He alternately cried and sang and nothing seemed to have any effect on him. Finally, Dr. Ridgely diagnosed his case as an overdose of comet gas, apparently acting the same as the ordinary gas used by dentists. After the comet had passed [he] was again restored to his natural condition.”
The only other instance of fits or panic found reported in the Tampa Bay area was in an account of the cruise of the yacht Belle by George F. Wright: Upon stopping at the hamlet of Osprey near Sarasota it was noted that the people of Osprey “expected a collision of comet and Earth.” The log for May 19 reads, “We awoke early to find the old world still doing business at the same old stand: all Nature seemed to rejoice and the songs of the birds in the trees were the sweetest I ever heard. The natives were very much alarmed, and almost terrorized and were relieved, but still apprehensive of future trouble with the comet.”
However, at least in St. Petersburg, for the most part it appears Halley’s visit was taken in stride and not without humor. On the front page of the Times for May 17, 1910, was a major article with the header, “Saw the Angels Sunday Morning.” This tongue-in-cheek piece builds on the many night comet parties held in the city. It reports that one of the good citizens of the town had “taken aboard a sufficient quantity of distilled corn to last him over the Sabbath.” He slowly wandered home “about the time that the comet parties were in session” and was amazed to see a group of “white robed figures” on the lawn of what he believed to be a cemetery. As he walked on, he saw another group. “Startled he looked in all directions and saw issuing from the trees and shrubbery other groups, as he looked up to see if there were any in the air he saw the long and glistening tail of the comet….Arriving at the front door of his own home…there coming out of his own front door was a group of three more angels….When after explanations were made and he learned that he had been witnessing a few comet parties, and that it was not the end of the world, he slowly went to bed, not however before he had signed the [temperance] pledge.”
Another wag seized upon the frequent references to the comet’s tail, comparing it to various critters. “Usually a comet’s tail is as harmless as a rabbit’s, but the one now swishing through the heavens is said to be composed largely of twenty-cent gas and is dangerous to life.” The writer cautioned, “Do not attempt to step on a comet’s tail, because no one knows what would happen if you did.” Others resorted to doggerel:
The comet doubtless is the cause
Of many of our ills.
Because it boosts the prices up
We cannot pay or bills.
It must be that. We’ve scanned the list
Of causes left and right,
And there is not in earth or sky
Another cause in sight.
While there was much ado about the comet in the Times there was even more in the Tampa Morning Tribune published across the bay. (This may be due in part to the fact that the Times then was published only twice a week whereas the Tribune was published daily.) Some in Tampa offered a spiritual interpretation of the comet. One reader went so far as to assert the comet as being the “chariot of God” in which God rode to visit his celestial systems “just like a man who is riding around among his grain farms.” A professor Kaempffert writing in Cosmopolitan magazine was referenced by the Tribune as theorizing that Halley’s comet might have been the Star of Bethlehem. There are many theories regarding celestial events occurring about the time of the birth of Christ including the appearance of a comet. Halley’s comet was visible in 12 CE. A famous medieval painting by Giotto di Bondone called the Adoration of the Magi shows the three wisemen at the birth of Christ with Halley’s comet in the sky. Giotto had witnessed the comet in 1301. The European Space Agency’s spacecraft sent to photograph the 1986 appearance of Halley’s comet was named in honor of Giotto.
The Tribune did more than provide extensive news coverage of the phenomena. To prevent Tampa residents from missing good viewing opportunities, the paper offered to call residents at their homes. On May 12, 13, and 14 more than 200 calls were made. Additionally, the Board of Trade mailed 3,000 postcards hyping the city with the notation, “Mailed May 18, 1910, to show the world that Halley’s comet never touched us. We are still doing business at the old stand.” Actually, the Tribune reported that most people watching the sky on May 18 using smoked glasses saw nothing. Those few who claimed they did see something were discounted by the local Weather Bureau. What they “really saw were streaks and blots on the glasses which had not been properly prepared so that the lampblack was distributed smoothly.”
In all, the 1910 passing of Halley’s comet was a brief but spectacular interruption in everyday life in St. Petersburg.
Will Michaels is a former director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History and the author of The Making of St. Petersburg andThe Hidden History of St. Petersburg. Reach him at wmichaels2222@gmail.com or 727-420-9195.
