The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1857-06-06


= up of this mundane sphere by any evil
{ cold of young comet" We give place, a
d a conclusion of the whole matter, to the fol
{, lowing sensible views about comets in gene
|, raj, which appeard originally in the ShoO
3 Journal of this city.
j The wanderer, though doubtless not quit
: a stranger to our system, which bears tn
name of comet, from his rowing nature, seem:
just now, to be making quite stir in tn
world of thought, though more by much il
the world of sense.
The following questions have been pro
posed several times within a few days, By
different individuals, interested some in th'
welfare of Mother Earth, others in the pro
ductiveness Of the season to supply the wants
of the children, seeming to hare lost sight o
the acelti,re or satety of ourselres to wit:
What do you think about the comet!'
DO you suppose that it is the cause Of al
this cold weather 2" eff 1t keeps on this
way won't IT destroy all the crops, and ruin
all the .farn,ers?" "Do you really think il
will hit the earM?" "What an amfut time
there would be the 18th Of next month,
(Junc) if it should happen to strike it, and
you know great many think it will, don't
.l |
We have not always had time to answer
such questions, and when we did venture a
reply, we had not the needed moment left US
to render a reason before another was pro-
pounded, and then another and another, un-
til the questions, and especially the multi-
tude thereof, seemed likely TO be more fear1
| fu to our mcatal being, than the comet 10
our j.hySicai being.
| We propose now TO answer one or two Of
( the above questions, and assign reason for
/ the answers given.
| First, then, we don't think IL has anything :
/ to do with the cuN lceaMcr.
Hence. second, We don't think it will ruip
the "f;,jrqers" by being the cause Of this
backward spring"
/ 81. We don't think it will ''hi; the earth y
That it might Lit the earth Is bare1y posing
but that it ,rU is not at all pro5abie, there
being only one chance in 2Sl 100000. In
order that our reasons may be understood,
il NAV be well to say a word in regard to the
nature Of a comet. 1t may at first seem
strange to some that we, who have had 50
little experience in astronomy, should at
tempt to speak of the nature Of comet, since
so many learned men-profound astrono-
rncrs-havc given such cOntlictiHg Meories.
However this may be, if we give no red-
them. First then, a comet is composed of
three distinct parts. The nucleus or head,
which IS comparatively small, the coma or
euyc!cp. and the tail or train. Ii is claimed
BY some that the nucleus Is a solid, composed
of matter SimiIr to that Of the edrth, hence
the great danger if it should imPingc against
the earth, coming with such great velocity.
Now We think it may be shown that this
is an error, and taat comet i net composed
Of matter si'sil to that Of the crrth, for all
the matter Of the earth is capable Of being
fused, and, if fused, is also capable OF being
vayorized. 1t is principle Of philosophy
that the intensity offght and heat increas-
IS IS the squares Of the distances dlninish-
According 10 JuIs law, tue neat enuurei ~
some comets in approaching their 1'erihelion
or nearest distance to the sun, would be sufii-
cient to fuse and vaporize every particle Of
the earth.
Again, it can be clearly shown that the
te,r,7arature Of n comet depends upon its
proI.-.itv 20 the sun, as i, depends, like the
r'ancts. upon the sun for lis light and heat
This fact may be shown by brief iilustra-
ton; when a se3t{vmin0u. body, as "a lamp
for instance, is carried gradually away from
us the size Of the .fGMe grows s"'atteT,
"whiIe the trighfntsS remains the same at
al distances" Bat i. body which shines
by rll'ectea light, Is thus Withdrawn, IT grows
f;ta'er and diums-, until Il. las. it van:shes-
Now when a comet approaches the sun it
grows brighter and brighter, but when it re-
celcs. il grows fainter until il is lost. Hence
il shines by reflected light, and as the nucic-
Us becomes more brilliant and appears lIT-
ger as ii approaches the sun, it is very evil
dent that it Is not vaporizcd; for should 1t
be. its particles would be scattered, and thus
continue to diminish until nothing was left,
which is contrary to facts; hence 1t is not
composed Of matter similar to that of the
earth" but must be of nature entirely DIFF
ftrent.
The comet of 1913 went within about
c., 900 miles of the suns surface, and at that
distance must have endured degree Of heat
without vaporizng-about 1900 times
greater than that of red-hot iron; and at the
same time moving at the astounding rate OF
1905 O0O miles per hour, or some e1ghty
timss faster than message carried on the
tclegraphic wires.
How p-eposterous the idea then, that such
body, whether soLii or driform, COLI or hot,
moving with almost infinite velocity, could
possibly affect the temperature Of the earth,
IN that small fraction Of time that would be
required to pass by 1t.
We now propose to saya word further IN re-
gard to the nature of a comet and the NUM-
Der of them.
1t is supposed by some that the tail OF
this aerial passer-by will extend half round
the calth and perhaps some have thought,
/ that with it, he would knock the P0tes over
and crack the zenith."
! Now as matter of fact, from the observ-
! ations taken at our best Observatories, he
/ has either abandoned that fearful appendage,
/ dropped it or hid it, or else he never had
anv. The last is undoubtedly true, as no
such train belongs to either 0or there are
| two) Of the comets now visible
| 1t has been generally supposed that there
was only one now in this part of our solar
! system; but the telescopes G We us taco IN
/ stead of one; yet both Of these are living
away from US, at rapid rate, some 90 OF
an arc per day, one of them to the south
east, the other Uhe one that some are look
ing for now with the naked eye) to the north
east. We are no prophet, neither would we
advise our friends in town to sit up too late
nights to catch a glimpse at these golden
robed rovers, for they aolU not be seen here
unit they have visited some more conSenIa
| cline. where the inhabitants do not make
such a hue and cry. about their making
mere flying call.
II is generally supposed that there are
comparatively but few comets, this Is no
doubt quite common mistake.
Now we suppose no one would object to
the supposition that comets may be equally
distributed at least throughout that portion
of space occupied by our solar system. Sir
.Iohn Herschel informs us that the number,
discovered before the invention OF the tele-
scope. amounted to several hundred, but the
telescope has brought to light from the
dentbs of obscurity and space hundreds
have remained forever unknown, j. e., to US,
had the astronomer continued to gaze into