Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-10-28

Mr.. Richard Proctor, the renowned astrOno-
mer. writes to the New Ork Herald as follows:
At last we seem likely to learn what will hap
pen to the solar system when a large comet falls
into the sun. There is scarcely room for any
doubt that astronomers were right In regarding
the comet OF 1880 as return of the comet of
1913, come back long before its proper time.
This was doubted by many, some supposng that
either the comet of 1880 was another object
travelling in nearly the same orbit or else that
the two bodies were associated together some
what like the clusters of meteOrs forming me-
teor ring, which lie irregusarly strewn along the
ring, and so pass any given point of their COM
mon orbit at irregular intervals of time.
But now that within two years and
eight months more exactly, the interval
Is from January "a, 1880, to September L. 1892
another splendid comet has been seen travelling
along the same track, comet Uniformed, lus-
trOus enough to be seen in full daylight and
travelling, like the comets of 1913, 1880 with a
long and well-siaped tal-the theory that these
three are different comets travelling in the same
track can no longer be accepted as probable
one. But if one and the same comet has been
seen on all three occasions. and if those astrOn-
Omers are right who consider the comet of 1913
to be the same as the comet of 1868
then this particular comet is approach
lar rapidity. From an interval of IT'S
years to one of 81 years. then to an
interval of less than 80 months, is a
very startling rate of change. Encke's comet
mad seemed to tell us very iinpressvely of the
gradual approach toward the sun which comets
may undergo; but astronomers only recognize
in its case a diminution of the period of revo-
luton by few hours in each circuit. Here
however. is a comet which after 1868 had had a
period hfty-twO tines as long as the period of
Encke's after 1913 only eleven times as long
and after 1882 reduced to four-fifths of the
period of this, which had been the comet of
shortest known period! What the time of cir
culatiOn will now be- remains to be seen. For
my own part should say 1t would be less than a
year. In fact. from calculations which have made
see reason to believe that the comet will be
back in less than half year. perhaps before
Christmas, which ought to be interesting news
to the believers in pyramid prophecy. Albeit,
1t mnst be understood that in such cases as these
nothing like exact accuracy Can be attained
When astronomers said in 1880 that the comet
OF that year might be back in a much shorter
time than thirty-seven years-'fOr instance, in
fifteen years. Gone of them said)-many seemed
to imagine that that number fifteen years in
Dictated the result of careful calculation. But
as matter of fact. it is absolutely impossible
to deal with such cases as these by any process
OF calculation. All we can say is that at each
return of the comet to the immediate neigh
borhood of the sun it is strongly retarded with
apparently increasing effect at each return.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
But now the important question arises what
will happen as the period grows shorter and
shorter! Suppose the comet were to return to
the sun in nine months, then in three, then in
one, then in a fortnight, then in a week three
days. one day, half day all theseput together
make up less than fourteen months. Even if we
suppose each period to be half the preceding,
though as we have seen the rate Of reduction
has been much more rapid than this, two years
Tt.li.f fal1@
Greetings. in the reduction of the comets period
TO some three and a-half hours. which would be
its time of moving in circle at that dis
lance Give hundred thousand miles), which
seems now to be its distance from
the suns center when in perheliOn. But after
this the comets distance would soon be notably
reduced. Since at every passage through the
solar corona, or meteor streams, or whatever
solar surroundings actually check the progress
of the comet, it meets with resistance largely
reducing its velocity it follows that SO soon as
that velocity is less than sufiices to balance the
suns attraction and prevent approach. the
comet will begin to be drawn In toward the
suns surface This process though caused by
a reduction of velocity. win ead-paradOxical
til Ough it may seem-tO an increase of velocity.
This increase is in reality due to the indrawing
Cor technically tine centripetaD action of the
sun. Precisely as Venus travels more swiftly than
the earth. and Mercury more swiftly than Venus
while Vulcan, fthere is such planet travels still
more quickly than Mercury, so our comet the
nearer it draws to the sun, because of fractional
retardatiOn in his atmosphere, will travel more
and more swiftly because of the suns attractive
action. Surprising the suns surface to be the
place where the comet would finally come to
rest the velocity with which the comets sub
stance would be moving when it actually came
into collision with the surface would be about
two hundred and sixty miles per second. Null
tltudilOus meteOric masses, transformed to
yapOr by solar heat and rushing round at this
tremendous velocity, before either suddenly or
gradually they were reduced to rest upon that
glowing surface, might be expected to produce
q considerable effect upon our sun. Even if it
Is not there that the comet would finally be alb
sorbed but below the visible surface (Which,
after ALL is but one of many solar surfaces) the
effect would only be increased by delay; for the
lower the layer which the comet eventually
reached the greater would be the comets veOc-
ity, before 1t was brought to rest.
WILL. THE SOLAR SYSTEM SUFFER?
Is there. then, danger that the solar system
will suffer, after the manner suggested by Sir
Isaac Newton in his remarks to Conduit
Speaking OF the comet of 1850, which did not
approach the sun nearly so closely as the comet
OF last September, he said: 1T might have five
or six revolutions more before it fell into the
sun; but, whenever it did, it would so much
increase his heat that this earth would be burnt
up. and no animals In it could live" Newton
thought indeed (of which was not aware when
l expressed similar view about the new star
In the northern CROWN that the so-called new
stars ''seen by Hipparchus Tycho Brahe and
keplers disciples were ''Of this kind for he
could not otherwise account for an extraordi-
nary light, as these were Ohe grammar is Mr.
COnduitt's) appearing all at once among the
fixed stars Gall which he took to be suns enlight-
ening the other planets as our sun does Ours) as
big as Mercury or Venus seems to us. and grad
ually diminishing for sixteen months and then
sinking into nothing" Sir Isaac manifestly
considered and with reason, that though our
sun might only be for short time raised to an
intenser heats. sixteen months, or even as many
days, would do the earths business very effect
ually.
PROBABLY NOT.
But think We may find comfort in what has
already happened In 1868 the comet lost a
large part of its velocity through FRACTIONAL re-
sistance. yet the inhabitants of the earth were
not much the worse tor the disturbance thus
Occasioned A similar change took place in 1913
and again in 1880. and yet again last September
This loss Of motion is 4 change of precisely the
kind which is eventually to produce whatever
mischief this comet can produce. If the final
absorption of the comet were likely to be very
mischlevous we should certainly, think, have
experienced some effect in January 1880
and again last September. But | have
not heard that the average temperature