The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-07-30
CON ers.

COMETS.
Something Absat Their Nature and tho
Laws Whleh Govern Their Dovenenes.
Nov Orleans Picayune.]
Everybody is on the lookout now for the
new comet. 1t in q little singular that
this meteor was not discovered earlier. as
1t can easily he seen with the naked eye.
This visitor to our system docs not come
into view until quite y late hour of the
night, probably not earlier than o'clock.
The nucleus is very bright and the tail
about twenty degrees long and five de-
grees broad, curving to tho northwest. 1t
appears in tho northern sky, not very far
distant from tho Pole star, which is easily
distinguished.
In this connection, q brief history Of
comets, thcir nature and tho laws which
govern them, will be found of interest.
These wonders of tho heavens were for !
long time regarded with terror, being
deemed warning signs of divine wrath
and !resaging wars, plaques and other
terrible disasters. In 81 the appearance
OF comet 60 alarmed Louis le Debon.
nalre, of France, that he and his court
devoted themselves to fasting and prayer.
This same comet, known AZ Halley's an
peared in lO66, and it was pretended that
1t had the greatest influence on tho fate
Of the battle of Hastings. Even nm to
the nrAaanf rnn<nrv oor,oto o,.:A.l Ax
snd were described - wearing tho most
fearful aspecta Thus, sane people Of live
~ imaginations beheld in the tails swords
Of me, bloody Crosses, dragons, fish, etc.,
and nervous persons arc said to have died
from the fright caused by these awe in
spring objects. Tho great Kepler, rea-
sonlng from analogy, conceived the idea
that, a. tho sea had its monsters, it was
reasonable to suppose that they existed
also IN the air. The belief was once cur.
rent that comets were expressly created
every time it was necessary to announce
the design Of God, and that tho angels
had the care of them.
Aristotle considered that they were me.
teors formed by oxhalations rising from
the earth. The Chaldeans, ON the other
hand, guessed correctly at tho nature Of
these bodies.
Comets belong to the solar system, and
their movements are governed, like those
OF the planets, by the attraction of the
sun. Their courses differ from the plane
tary orbits, which are nearly circular, by
being elliptic and much elongated.
Hence comet may approach very near
tho sun, and afterwards travel to an i'm.
i!lonse distance from it. For instance.
the period Of the comet of 1850 is estima-
ted ut 1000 years. On December II. 1850.
this comet was nearer TO the sun than our
moon; it is now on ito course beyond the
orbit Of Neptune. The velocity varies &C.
cording to the distance from tho sun.
When closest to that body, comets may
travel thousands Of miles Per minute;
whom furthest Of only . few yards in tho
same time. Newton imagined that comets
would Oh, eventually, Gll into tho sun.
A writer, after tho time Of Newton.
naively remafks: IAN immense comet.
already larger than Jupiter, IVES again in.
creased IN Il path BY being blsnied With
six other comets. Thus displacod from
>. 80 A~~sO ~ sAsOe0 osIyut UuOCRA
It DID not pursue it, true ellipfieal orbit !:
90 that tho unfortunate thing was precipi.
pitated into the devouring centre Of The
sum-" He Odds, it 10 said, that the poor
comet thus burned alive, sent iosth
dreadful cries." It was generally believ-
Cd 1t ono time, that, shoud . comet come
" contact with tho earth, the result would
DO disastrous to this mundane sphere,
Aaupertuia, writing In 17le, asserts that
tho shock would knock tho earth upside
down, - it were.
Now It IL held that comets exert no
kind Of sction On tho planets. They arc
regarded a. naere agglomerations Of vapor,
with . bright head q nucleus, and . tad
often millions of miles in length. So
light and supple arc they that ray Of
neat may cause them to change in shape,
End tho form Of tho tail constantly varies
from day to day. Astronomers even allece
that the substance Of comets il Of such
rarity that could one, millions of milo long,
DO condemned, the weight would not b I
very heavy burden for.a man to carry on
bio back. -