St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1884-07-12
A RIDE UPON A COMET,

A RIDE UPON A COMET.
The simultaneous presence of thu
planets Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupi
ter, and Mars-a string of brilliant.
hanging adown the western heavens
rendered the April evening skies par
tlcularly attractive this year. At 6
single glance the observer conld 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
planets shift their places from week tC
week; that some are slow-paced and
some are swift-footed; that some shine
with dazzling whiteness and Others
with leaden or ruddy hue, and that
they all differ in appearance from the
fixed stars.
This brilliant procession of worlds is
y aspectacle 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 a comprehensive view OF
its relations to the universe around it.
If a 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 a
hundred thousand million miles from
thesun. 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 magnifi-
cent height and distance what a pros
pect expands around him! Here he is,
out 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 a 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
glittering on every side like diamonds
in the black depths. Yet it is not even
starlight, for there is no medium to
diffuse their radiations.
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 q
new creation of light and lite upon the
earth? 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
Prom morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve
A summers day; and with the setting sun.
Dropped from the zenith like q falling star"
was trifle 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 brilliancy After
time it becomes clear to the comet
rider that out of the abyss of immensity
places of the universe. If we suppose
him endowed with most piercing
vision-and in the clear ether even
ordinary vision would possess extraor-
dinary power-he may see, in different
directions, other comets journeying
southwards, and perhaps meteors in
swarms and sing!y. joining the general
procession toward the solar centre
Already the loneliness of space is gone,
and his comet and the sun are no longer
the only material bodies within distance
measurable to human comprehension.
The sun continues to increase in size
and splendor as he approaches it, and
ii he had any means of measuring his
velocity the passenger would perceive
that the speed of the comet is becom-
ing frightful. Now he sees that it is a
metropolis of the Universe he is ap-
preaching. All roads lead to it: the
number of his fellow-travelers, coming
from every direction, increases. They
draw closer together as they near the
focus of their motion.
And presently the solar system, this
great city of space in which we dwell,
begins to open upon his view as the
shining cupolas and minarets Of Da-
mascus rise from afar before the de-
lighted eyes of the traveller approach
ing across the plains of Syria. First,
perhaps. he catches sight of that mys-
terious trans Neptunian planet. which
no human eye has ever vet beheld, but
whose existence some astronomers be-
lieve has been demonstrated by means
of comets which it has made prisoners
to the sun-turning them by its attrac |
ton into closed orbits as they entered
the outskirts of the solar system. He
gees this far-away sentinel planet re-
volving st distance from the sun equal |
10 nearly twice that of Neptune. Yet
from his point of view it seems to be |
just outside the rays Of the sun. But