The Bossier banner., 1884-07-03
RIDE UPON A COMET.

n nIOAI OA O~N A SO1AAAe
The simultaneous presence of the
planets Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupi-
Ter, and Mars-a string of brilliants
HANGING adown the western heavens
rendered the April evening skies par
tcularlr attractive this year. At
single glance the observer could see
nearly the whole planetary OF the sun,
the earth's brother and sister worlds in
shining array. 1t requires no astrono-
mical instruments to perceive that these
ulapets shift their places from week to
week; that some are slow-paeed and
some are swift-footed that some shine
with dazzling whiteness and others
with leaden or ruddy hue, and that
theT all diher in appearance from the
fxed stars.
This brilliant procession of worlds is
spectacle of intense interest to every
one who stops to consider how closely
in origin and destiny, as well as in
physical resemblances, they are linked
with the globe upon whose surface we
pass our lives.
But the observer must in imagination
place himself outside the solar system
In order to get comprehensive view of
its relations to the universe around it.
II man could ride upon comet as it
approaches the system from outer
space, he would obtain a true concep-
ton of our situation in the universe.
Suppose our rider meets his comet
hundred thousand million miles from
tbesun. Even then he has not traversed
one two hundredth part of the interval
separating the sun from the nearest
fixed star, but he has left all the planets
far behind him. From that magnif-
cent height and distance what a pros
pect expands around him! Here he is,
ont in open space. which spreads away
beyond the reach of imagination in
every direction. There is no sunlight
here, for at this distance the sun has
dwindled to star, and twinkles among
Its fellows. There is no air here, and
the vast dome of the universe is like
Jet with countless millions of stars
glttering on every side like diamonds
Ia the black depths. Yet it is not even
starlight, for there is no medium to
diifuse their radiations.
And that little point of piercing light
yonder; that Insignificant star. is the
sun, which was wont to shed such an
incomprehensible blaze of light; to turn
night into day; whose rising was like a
new creation of light and lite upon the
earthP Ay, there is no doubt of it.
Thus at one stride into space the star
quencing sun is diminished to a spark.
And where are the planets, where the
earth ? Hidden in the rays of that
star. The height from which Lucifer
descended when
So From morn
10 noon he fell. from noon to dewy eve,
summers day; and with the setting sun,
dropped from the zenith like falling star, >
vas trihe to this. Yet even here the
power of the sun is felt, for the comet
begins to obey its attraction and bend
its course toward it. because among all
the,multitude of suns which sparkle in
the gloom of space it is the nearest.
The comets motion is accelerated
and gradually the star-like sun increases
in apparent size and brillianey. After
time it becomes clear to the comet
riderthat out of the abyss of immensity
he is approaching one of the populated
places of the universe. If we suppos.
him endowed with most piercing
Vsionand in the clear ether ever
ordinary vision would possess extraor
dlnary power-he may see, in differen
directions, other comets journeyine
sOuthwards, and perhaps meteors II
swarms and singly, joining the genera,
procession toward the solar centre
Already the loneliness of space is gone
AID his comet and the sun are no longer
tne only material bodies within distance
measurable to human comprehension.
Ihe sun continues to increase in size
u aa splendor as he approaches it, and
ns had any means of measuring his
seloelty the passenger would perceive
nat the speed of the comet is becom.
ms frightful. Now he sees that it is q
netropolis of the Universe he is ap.
pfoaehing. All roads lead to it; the
aamber OF his fellow-travelers, coming
1om every direction, increases. They
slaW closer together as they near the
mcus OF their motion.
and presently the solar system, this
seat city of space in which we dwell,
Ssgins to open upon his view as the
tlnlng cupolas and minarets of Da-
s'sseas rise from afar before the de-
;nled eyes of the traveller approach
aeross the plains of Syria. First,
s;aaps, he catches sight of that mys-
,.ious trans Neptunian planet. which
anan eye has ever yet beheld, but
use existence some astronomers be-
Sse has been demonstrated BY means
suhets which it has made prisoners
t;os s sanTturning them by its attrac-
lba ,neo ~. closed orbits as they entered
sss. ~ 9aatsklrts y. OF the solar system. He
vsIs;. az sulS far-away sentinel planet re-
ag at distance from the sun equal
isOs. ssasiy twice that of Neptune. Yet
sss ~. nls point Of view 1t seems 10 ba
" eesklas TIE rays Of the spn, But.