The Arizona sentinel., 1888-07-07

There was time, not very long ago, for it is within the remembrance of some who are still living, when the ap- pearance of comet produced general consternation. This was notably the case in 1911 when a large comet startled the whole of Europe, and many believed that it came to destroy the world. Old prophecies were con- suited and made to fit. The flaming visitor was to whisk his fiery tail across the earth, and burn up every living thing thereon.
 One man was really killed, though by no means burned to death. He sta tioned himself inside his water-butt, chin deep, and ready to bob down when the tail swept past, but he stayed there so long awaiting its arrival that the chill was fatal.
 Intelligent curiosity now prevails in stead of ignorant and superstitious ter of the Companion would eagerly vel come the arrival of another great comet, and gaze upon it as one of the glories of creation. Such a visitor may become visible at any time, perhaps rather suddenly, and the more you learn concerning comets, in general, the more interesting becomes the grand celestial display--
 It is commonly supposed that comets are astronomical rarities. This is far from being the case. With the excep- tion of those curious bodies that so frequently strike our atmosphere, and appear as fiery meteors or shooting stars,n comets are the most abundant of all the members of our solar sys- tenn.
 This solar system is an astronomical family, that travels through space with its huge parent, the sun, flying round him as he proceeds. Besides the sun there are eight planets, our world be- ing one, twenty satellites or moons at tending these planets; between two and three hundred of planetoids or aster- oids, pocket planets" as they have been called; the meteors referred to, which are innumerable, and how many comets?
 More than six hundred have been carefully observed and recorded, but these are only samples of the great multitude that must exist within the limits of our solar system, though be- yond the reach of our vision. If they are as numerous throughout the whole sphere of our solar system, as they are where we can see them, their numbers must amount to tens of thousands, hun dreds of thousands and even millions The French astronomer Arago esti- mates their numbers at seventeen and one-haf millions.
 As all the readers of the Companion know, our world and the other seven planets, with their attendant moons, travel round the sun in paths that are nearly, but not quite, circular. We all go round and round together in the, same direction, with different ~sa< and at different distances, s bme back again and again to the q 11e rela- tive places, or nearly the same place, and thus we see each other at regular periods.
 Not so the comets; they travel in fly away orbits. Some are temporary visitors from the far, far awag known realms of infinite space, th$ta enter our family circle with a plunge, dash down towards our central sun, whisk around him with inconceivable velocity, then fly of again on the other side, away and away back to the in- finity from whence they came, and through which they then travel on and on for ages immeasurable, until the attraction of another sun defects their path, and causes them to visit him and his family of worlds as ours was visit ed. We see such wanderers but once for all; they are never likely to come this way again.
 But there are others, many others, that dash towards our sun in similar manner, whisk round him and rush away, but as they leave him they slacken their pace continually down to comparative creeping, and as they slacken speed so they bend round and round until they turn sufficiently to move again towards the sun. Then they quicken their speed and come again as before, to whisk round the sun, and away again by the same path continually, provided no other body comes near enough to alter their course by its gravitation. The shape of these paths is thatof an ellipse or oval.
 An ellipse may be short and thick,