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80 IE COilEiTS .ON COMETS
MO AN ' HARANGUE ON HALLEVrS.
WHICH WILL MAKE MAY MEMORABLE.
S
& DISSERTATION on comets and
thesr wondrously-atienuuted tails
of luminous planetary dust should
prove .of universal interest at this
juncture. Besides, it is necessitated by
the somewnat general oeuei trial vlien
this tcrrestial speck of lniicl swings
merrily into the tail of Halley's Comet
on the S&t'n or 21st of May next a
catastrophe will occur v.-ir.ch will
simultaneous! j' separate and devour
lilltj OSCDUa cuuabiwucato KJi.
which the sublunary atmospheie is
composed. Flnmmurion, a notable
French astronomer, is largely respon
sible for the somewhat common im
pression that the earth is goin<j to
heave up against a frightful mass of
trouble' in the middle of May next, in
volving the destruction of life, and
heralding in the Day of Destruction
predicted by- the Book of lievelat ous.
Other astronomers, eaually as compe-
tent as Fiannnarion. have, not hesita
ted to insinuato that thsvt sensational
scare-monger is speaking through the
roof -of his hat, and »s arguing from
assumptions contrary to nscrrta'.u <1
astronomical facts.
Briefly stated, a comet is a member
of the solar system, subject to the
"pull" or influence of the sun, and con
sisting of a brilliant, nucleus or head,
within a nebulous envelope, generally
extended into a long drawn-out tail on
the real" of its orbit. Tlie orbit is an
excessively eccentric piece .of furniture, '
pursuinT its meteoric career through
the heavens with a velocity which in
creases as it approaches the sun, di
minishing in a similar ratio as it re
cedes in the opposite direction. These
apparently irresponsible mass's of
molten metals are very numerous
(about 17,000,000 are alleged to exist),
and have their fixed period of revolution
determint'.'blc by astronomical science
with the iv.os'l mawo'lous exactitude. .
In the Middle Ages, and -during tit.,-
Renais's-tr.c.'. come's were r gar.'ol as
liarbfni>eiv of frightful cukunities. as
flaming s--'m!i<,!s of the Divine wrath,
porriete may legitimately be idescriljed
h's jthe dis-olute vagabonds of the inid-
! " I _
night shy. They affeei late hours,
never .r--viu- (o so much «d Van tow as
during ... r.ight of Cimmerian dar' ne-ss,
go the Da'-'c at an unbeaten bat, strug
gle home with the m-.lk next morn
ing, arid create endless worry . and
trouble in the -cbmes+ic menage of the
universe-
Colli . (s have their spectacular .side.
They carry round with them tails re
sembling flaming swords of lire hung
in. the s' y , like the .schnUu:' o; a
Turk, extending over millions of mik-s
of the aU) Rsrna ' tie. iks tire Kte.-'
real See . Their precise ' composition
is unknown. Various astronomers as
sert it is composed of such ilimsv ma
terials that the whom of the tail
.couhi be crammer! into a sugar-hag
without causing the slightest 'neonve-
nicnee to the oprrator.. Guriously —
and this phenomenon will be .observed
in Hailev's Comet next Mav — the tail
lags r Iterant in the rear as it ap
proaches the sun, but directly it cir
cumnavigates that flaming sphere of
incandescent gases, and heads' away
into inter-stellar space again, it shifts
its tail round to the. front of the pro
cession, thus resembling an angry dog
.chasing its own hairy narrative down
the street, amid a chorus of encourag
ing howls from every other canine in
the village. Astronomers have so far
failed to give any feasible explanation
of this comi tai'y 'vec,-, tricky. Some
its tail round to the front of the nvo-
bably ol. ciacal. streaming' ovt of trie
sun at an inconceivable voltage, com
pelling the tail to realise the error of
its ways, and forcing it to as tivc a
prominent iw»s«i;on at t-e ne-n; of to-
"proc-esh." Other s-'-.cv.is u-di ar.ee the
theory thai, whatever may be the
power producing such a' remark
able freak, it will eventually .he found
to proceed from the coniet itself.
Halley's Comet was discovered in
1680, by Edmund. Hal Icy, an illustrious
Astronomer Royal, to whom Sir Isaac
Newton entrusted the publication of
his Priuf.ipia." In preparing the
records or a number of meteors. Hal-
Icy dwidwj that the facts relating to
a coniet which burst on a profoundly
ignorant world in I5-U, in lfiOT- and in 1
1682 really referred to the erratic
movements of the same celestial body/
and he prophesied its return in 1738.
Prior to his death, in 17-12, If alley
wrote : "Wlv-refore. if i( sho-l!d re
turn according to oar prediction,
about the year 1758, an impartial
posterity will not refuse, to acknow
ledge 'it was first discovered by an
Englishman." The c.omet did return,
as -the dead astronomer had nredictcd
it would, in the last week of 1758. ever
since when his name and investigations
have la -en associated with it. Hal-
ley's Comet is a splendid example of
the profundity of the problems still
to be solved 'nv astronomy. It shines
with a shimmering 'ruliniwe l:ke a sub
dued and stcariiiv-.'ireebv! search light
seeking a fleet of ten-re.'! n destroyers
nestling in the protected defihs of a
rock-bound coast. . Keen for the first
lime, it has a most perturbing' e'Te -.t
on a. sun. r.-ensil'.ve imagination steep
ed in astronomical igno'-aive. Career
ing through the Mlhereal Sea at the
unthinkable velocity of several mil
lion miies a day, it resembles the
briiiiant l-.ea'Jiight of a railway en
gine speeding through the desert at a
breaK-iuci, pace.
Tiie spectroscope seems to show, as
a Competent authority expresses it.
that eomctary radiance docs not pro-'
ceud from the sun, whilst the presence
ui itiTOifu nguu is iiiuicuicu uy LUC
polariscope. It .is suggested this
shimmering brilliancy is partly derived
from an independent source and partly
from the sun'. " The comet's head," it
is writ ten, " develops periods of re
markable activity. Extraordinary con
vulsions occur. Livid streams of mol
ten matter are shot out in every di
rection, with inconceivable violence. It
develops fiery brushes and horns, in
addition to a tail." At times it dis-
penses with a tail, to later on develop
a mass of fiery matter through which
I the stars twinkle and scintillate with
luminous radiance. All these features
"will be presented by Halley's Comet on
its aimearnnee on Mav next,. T+. wna
first observed as a fluffy spot on a
photograph taken at the Royal Ob
servatory, Greenwich, on, September 9
last. Ever since then it has been has
tening towards the sun and the earth
at H constantly increasing velocity. At
its uorihelion on April 20 it will; scam
per past the sun at a speed calculated
to run to close on four million miles
j>er diem. As- this, articje is being
penned tne movements oi tne Historical,
fugitive oi the heavenly firmament is
being observed by thousands oi tele
scopes brought to bear upon it from
every portion of the civilised globe. It
will' soon be observable by the naked
eye. it will be closest to the earth
between Mav 20 and 21. the interven
ing space being estimated to be not|
less than thirteen million miles, "But.
long before that," comments an Eng1'
lish observer, "it null slrine out as
the most brilliant object seen in the
heavens for nearly a generation."
As to the d. n r-v predicted In- liMam-
mar! ( m, in"' lUt. event of the c.rfnet'.J
tail sweeping the earth. . the microseo-
pie masses of which it is composed are
said to he so thin and tenuous that
it is impossible the slightest appreci
able disturbance will occur in the ter
restrial atmosphere. Donati's Coniet.
in 1858. spread its tail in the shape
of ,, scimitar, over a third of the area
of. the visible dome of the earth. Its
radiance was startling in its bril
liancy. It was computed to have a
volume of 500. times that of the sun. .
yet its mass was estimated to be mere
ly a fraction of that or the earth.
Further, in' 1835, the last' time Halley's
Coniet appeared ' to ruffle the equa
nimity of the denizens of the globe,
not only the earth, but also the moon'
enteral its .tail late in the morning of
Juno 30. And at 6 p.m. the same
dav the globe recklessly plunged into
it to a depth of 273,000 miles... The
only phenomenon observed as a pecu
liar phosphorescent illumination in the.
say, something like the flashing rays I
of the Aurora Australis witnessed all,
over the Southern hemisphere some iivo i
months ago. j
Flammarion to the contrary not- j
withstanding, the contact- of the earth;
with the 'littering tail of Halley's j
Comet on Slay 20 or 21 is not likely !
to have the slightest nr-'.weeiable effect
ori t,'v> health either of its atmosphere
or its inhabitants. The Dav of Judg
ment is not vol at Iron!. Nor is there,
the slightest need wh.v the Government
should declare a moratorium in respect
of dishonored ehn'oses and unpaid
washing bills. There will be no me
chanical s maring-off of every business
ledoer cm Mnv 21. nor is -there (tee rn-
motesi prospect of a downoour of
brimstone, fire and boiling oil h-iv''n g
the slightest effect on the current mar
ket price of bottled beer. ' ,
$