BIELA'S COMET

comet discovered (1826) by and named for the Austrian astronomer Wilhelm, Baron von Biela (17821856). It was identified by Biela as a periodic comet that returned every 6.6 years. Biela's Comet underwent remarkable transformations; it was observed in 1846 to break in two, and in 1852 the fragments returned as twin comets that were never seen thereafter. In 1872 and 1885, however, when the Earth crossed the path of the comet's known orbit, bright meteor showers (known as Andromedids, or Bielids) were observed, lending strength to astronomers' postulation that some meteors are composed of fragments of disintegrated comets.