Democratic messenger., 1892-11-26
THE COMING COMET.
PofeSsOr Swift Prepicts a Great
Metc0ric Shower for
November pa.

uISdppthTeu, anu mas necn succeeded Uy
a scientific or intelligent interest in these
wonderful heavenly bodies II will be
observed, however, IN the suhjoined ex-
pressions of scientific gentlemen that
these astronomers are prone 10 indulge
in little scientific sensaiiGnalism. That
is the way the pictured horrors of COLI
sions between comets and the earth ap-
pear to the lay mind The motions of
the heavenly bodies were planned by a
master hand. and they have moved
through the spacious armament on
high from the dawn of creation down To
this time in accord with the will Of the
Creator. In considering the motion of
the planet Mars bumplious King OF
SPAN through mistake had been made,
but il was shown that the King, and not
the Creator, was wrong. And so we
may assume that the heavenly bodies will
go on each in the path that was marked
out for it in the beginning with unerring
accuracy.
DIR. swift says; II predict that on the
evening of the 27lh of this month, as soon
as dark ness falls, there will commence a
years. This display is not one of the
periodic ones alluded 10 before. but is
connected with the appearance of this
new comet Meteoric showers used Ia
cause terror on all sides As recently as
1888 the lower classes in this country
confidently expected the end of the world
had come on the appearance of violent
disturbance OF this sort. Now il is known
that meteors are closely connected with
comets, and ii is believed that they may
he parts Of comets"
IF this is Biela's comet, as firmly be-
lieve IL is, on the night of November eth
II will give us a great meteoric display.
4 few sparks may fly on the night of the
25th, but the main interest will center on
the first.namcd date. A star shower is
always fine sight. but il my prophesy
comes true we shall learn more about
this. the most mysterious aud nearest OF
all comets, which has not been seen since
1852. although expected once in six
years"
How far away is this comei?" was
asked. I'm one OF its visits" was the an.
swer. "Bicla's comet came so close 10 the
earth that il the latter had been DELAYED
or advanced. have forgotten which, one
been collision. II is quite within the
bounds of probability that this comet
will strike the earth som. time Indeed.
il may be moving directly toward us now
On Thursday night my slide was so heavi-
ly weighted with snow could not move
il, and only caught glmse of the new
conner through the shutter. Friday night
was too foggv 10 give a view. In clear
weather the practiced eye can see Biela'-
without glass. so we shall soon know
more about it"
Professor Boss estimates the distance
of the comet from the earth on the even
ing of November l3 TO have been 1880, :
600 miles. The comet then appeared as
n large and bright nebulOsity with we'll
marked, though relatively faint. central
condensation The nebulosity was found
10 be nine minutes in diameter, and was
much better defined on the eastern than
the western side The nucleus, or cen.
tral condensation, was small and elonga-
ted toward the east The diameter of the
nebulOsi;y is estimated at $4,000 miles
and of the densest part about 300 miles
There was no appearance of solid ker-
mel. such as is supposed To exist at the
centre of all great comets. Assuming the
comet to he al the distance mentioned,
any solid body at its centre smaller than
fifty miles in diameter would probably
have escaped detection.
Should the comet approach the earth
within 100000 miles and retain its pres.
ent size it would then appear to have
four times the diameter of the full moon.
In response 10 question Professor
Boss stated that he considered the chance
of collision between the comet and the
earth as very slight indeed, though there
is nothing sufficient at present 10 demon
strate the impossibillity of such an event.
The present comet. though large in ap-
parent size. is really very small if il is
identical with the comet of Biela. There
is probably no solid mass at its centre
sufficiently large 10 produce serious Ell
fects upon the earth as a whole by COLI
sion But, in view of the chances, there
is no occasion to waste time in coniectur
ing the effects of such a collision
4 student Of the stars, not So widely
known to the scientific world as Profes-
sor Boss. says; If the comet be really
Bicla's comet. and it shall approach with
III 900, 0 90 miles Of the earth, il is far
from impossible that the force of the
earth's attraction may draw it to us and
bring about "A crash of the worlds In
that event. the nebulOsity Of the comet
would he our only salvation. While the
comet is no, solid. il undoubtedly con
tains many particles of solid matter Of
considerable size. 1t is not improbable
that some Of these particles, in the as
tronomic sense. may be masses Of rock
one, two. or even five miles in diameter
leave the fancy TO play the results oi
the impact of shower of such bodies on
the spot in the earths surface where the
collision might occur. Fortunately. by
far the greater portion Of the earih's sur
face is composed OF water. but should
this comet be drawn To earth and strike
the Atlantic il would create tidal wave
that would overwhelm the staunchcst
ocean steamer and would sweep from the
sea all vessels within hundreds of miles
Should the comet strike the earth in the
form of ne ebulous shower OF these enor-
nous masses of stone. the ensuing devas-
tatloa that would follow appals the ina
gination The fall of metoric stones,
some weighing several tons. is phe
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