The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1883-06-20
s y d H3T 703I q v - u 2
Il The Mystery OF Comets Tails.

r. II.
The eeoornetary displays Of the last two /
Years have excited in an unusuat degree
the shirt of astronomical speculation
a. 10 fI1e, causes of comets tails and |
their mysterious movements. an I'll
crIish scientist in the Philosophical nag |
9zfye propounds a novel theory TO ex-
1,iaip these Ipheriomena- The forces on
which he relies TO make out his theory
are the. force of gravity which urges
the comet toward the sun. the expansive
force of the suns heat. and the resist
a,ice 81 an Invisible atmosphere sun
rounding the sun at Immense distances.
The changes. in q comet which give rise
To its til begin with the emission OF gas,
In tbe direction determined by the ex-
oansive force of the SUMS heat acting
On the comet. But soon these jets bend
y-nr,nd- "a IL carried back by a strong
/ wind. forming an envelope round the
! body of the. comet and a cone behlnd
/ r. ss would happen to man dresseq
/ inzSE loose robe and running rapidly
! arfnst the wind. The jets OF gas es,
/ caplng from the body OF the Gomez anu
expanding when they leave II are niore
I resisted by the suns atmosphere lna li
It's more solid heat, so that they sen
N ~ faY behind IL, forming the comets
Z
head. According to this view the. poly
% the comet is constantly moving
tbrouoh the .vapors it throws Oh, ana ana
fms produces the appearance OF a tan
bv leaving each successive part thrown
of more and more behind IT. After
nassino its perihelion the comet carries
Re tail before it instead of behind II, ne
savs because while moving toward the
snn il Is perpetually passing from
y.,-er iutD n denser medium, whlle 10
recedinc, from the sun it is perpetually
Dassing from a denser into rarer me
The fact that the most rapid altera
, ,;on in the direction of comets tam
neees EARLY occurs just when the expan
sive force of, the suns heat is most lei
gives plausibiiity TO this nypotnesiIs
= There can be little doubt that, as Mr.
HugGfns observes: If we could see
4 great comet during its distant wan n..
, mos. when it has put of the gaia. trap
u rfIgs of perihelion excitement, II woul'
appear as very sober OBJECT ana cor
- ~ little more than nucleus alone.
: The same may perhaps De sara Oh III
4 r,vsterioug xyanderer while approacinh
% ~, sup- Int not near. enough to- under
!. GO vaDorization from the solar heat Q
Encounter the denser strata OF In
p Invisible solar atmosphere. Inc receI
q inouirv of DIR. Siemens into the COZ
q servation of solar energy also LENDS co
"a ar 10 the theory that comets when neg
u the sun NAV encounter resisting meu
" nm which, would account for the PM
IS ron,ena in question as the writer II
a ferred TO supDoses- But astrononhe,
n are vet far from solving the old pro-
: ie,,s Of the origin and eccentric b
u ta,-;o,. ~ comets tails There seen
$ 40 be-'' saws Mr. Higgins, - RAPID
as growing feeling among physicists IN
OF 10th the self-light of comets ana U
40 obenomena of their tails belong TO u
order of electric phenomena IN
view. in order to account Tor the carr
10 inc away of the comets tan unuer
K electric repulsion exerted by the SD
ed necessitates the suppoSition that tne 81
~ is strongly electrified either Posltlfe
=, or negatively, and also that IN
~ changes going on in the comet the M
as ter thrown of by the nucleus mas
d. come strongly electrified IN the SAL
D.. nov as the sun. Otherwise the attrf
y" t;o2 ON one side cf every particle
WI the comet would be precisel W equal
ass Hsrscbel points Quito the repulsl
en- on lie opposite side, and we shot
on therefore be at a loss to explain
9. enormous velocity with which the m
:. ter of the tail is carried backward,
hb Opposition both to the motion 1t had
Ier mart of the nucleus and to that II
per nuired in the act of its emission.
if while all theories designed to expi
ia eometary phenomena have hitherto !
en- short of the mark, they nave ser.
ous 10 stimulate active investigation,
be- also TO throw important hight on
md physics of the sun and the dlnusI 10
, at matter in interstellar space'-N'
Inv Herald.