Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-12-07
A DEADLY C<,aI.ET.

me Probability o. u CIs.falr~tio,s IN shl
Sun 2Aat Nay B~sss AL L4fe or the
E.,sth.
The idea that the comet of 1880 may
''e Identical, not only with that of l843,
'ut with that of 1868, the period having
cen reduced from l75 years to thirty
::ven, was suggested At the Astronomi-
al Society in April, 1880, by Mr.. Maxth,
mathematician of great skill, and we'll
nown for tue zeal with which he at
scks problems relating to. the move
dents Of the satellites OF Saturn aud
lars. He says: , .
"supposing the comet Of 1S43 is the
Inns as that OF 1868, it would not be
e ry wonderful that it should reappear
siter thirty-seven years, instead Of l75
ears. The velocity OF a body moving
IA the solar system depends simply on
is distance from the sun, and on the
period ,oi revolution. II the velocity il
'educed by a resisting medium, there
VIII be = reduction Of tho period, and
there is nothing Whatever unreasonable
IN the supPosltion. that however weak
he corona may he. its resistance would
ave very great effect upon the mo-
':on of the comet which r,lshes through
1; so that I should not be at al sur.
Used ii it should turn out that the
met Of 1880 is the same rs the comet
l843 and that Of 1868. and that its
:, volution has been 50 much affected
that possibly it may return in, say,
~.v~nteen years"
Now. if this theory Of the comet oi
1880 be the true one, We are somewhat
''.ore nearly interested in the matter
han VIC are in most theories respecting
'me's. If already the oomet experi'
Ices such resistance in passing through
& q corona when at its. nearest to the
>nn that i:s period undergoss marked
>.m:n1tion, the effect must OF necessity
.,e increased at each return, and after &
lew, possibly one or two, circuits the
.omot will be absorbed by the hun.
It will be remembered that Sir ISaac
N..wton recognized tho possibility that
i might happen to Genet, having such
:, orbit as that OF the comet. Of 1880
,yeneraily known ss Nswton's comet),
md that he had considered tho conss.
9 ,ences might be full Of danger to this
earth. Yet he only dweit on The DANCE,
ari,,ii'g, as he judged, from the addition
OF 50 much fuel to the solar fires. We
now know that the real danger lies. not
from the absorption of 80 much matte,
Us may exist ia comets head and nu'
;cl+us, but from the conversion Of the
momentum Of the swiftly rushing mass
Of the comet into heat, the thermal
equivalent. 81 its mschanical energy. .=a
l haye for my own part been long oi
opinion that the periodical increase d
such stars ~ Mira (ths Wonderful star,
IN the Whale, ;and Eta, Of the Argo,
is due 70 the motion Of some large comet,
followed. by . meteorio rain about
these two stars. I have indiested fully
IN my "Flessant Ways in Science" thu
reasons which induce mo 70 believe that
the outbnrst Of the 90 called "n.w star
in the Northern Crown in 1866 is 10 b
similarly explained Without saying
that oonsider there isaabsolute dangs1
of 8 similar outbu, q in the cass 81 om
own sun when the comet of 1913 shall
bs absorbed By him Is result which viii,
in my opinion, most oertainly TAXI
plaos), I viii go % iar = % sxprsss ny
belief that il ever The day : ID oopl
when 1. the heavens shall dissolvs Il
feryent hest, the canss q the cs4astro
pho win b the downfall of aoras e1sa'
oonnst a. the sun. s..5s. ss@5 y.
I Ibelieye tho p1s,aeps svsn e fhs ls6l
Il oornet over the 4rrttlh w6nI1 stie' If
r. y u