The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-11-19
WILL 1T STRIKE THE EARTH
Tail of Biela's Comet Due in Our Atmos-
phere One Week from To-M0rrOw.
II. May Strike Is or 1t May Miss BY Eight Hours
Something About the Famous Wander
ing Celestial and Its Severed Tail.

DOS1ONs 4NONs Ao obbAOuOmolo 0b
Harvard have for several days been direct
ing the big telescopes to the bazy mass in
the heavens which they conjecture may be
the famous Bels comet, named for the
Austrian officer who discovered it N 1926.
Visitant Professor Pickering said to-day:
I'VE have been waiting for q number of
observations to be made before making
computations. Our observations have re-
vealed this interesting feature: 1t appar-
emily remains nearly stationary. It 10 too
early to determine how far off the comet
will be when nearest the earth. Of course.
cannot be sure that this 10 Biela's comet
1t M thought by many astronomers that
it is more than likely that Bielss invisible
tail. that bifurcated gaseous prolongation
that dissolved partnership with the comet
somewhere in the neighborhood of 1852
will come in contact with some portion of
earth and the celestial wanderer are que at
the same spot in space only eight hours
apart. No great danger Feed be appre-
hended. even if the collision should be
head on" as the comet il not as big as "all
Tennessee mountains. When NJ. Biela dis
covered the thing in the constella-
tion Aries. it looked like small, round
speck of filmy cloud. Since then the comets
pathway has been hard road to travel. In
1884, when it and the eartn missed col
lisi0n by only one month, its proximity to
our habitation split 1t in two, and each
half. with head and tail of its own, went
they whirled through space. like Q couDle
of race-horses, about sixteen thousand
miles apart. or twice the diameter of the
earth. These twins were due for return
ises S"s failed to- keep the ap
continents. What they were do
ing during this period history knows
not. but Nov. n, 1912. Professor Klinker-
brilliant display of meteors. jumped to the
conclusion that here at last were traces of
the missing luminary. He immediately
wired Mr.. Pcgson. of the Madras Observe
tory: "Biela touched the earth Nov. "a.
Search for him near Theta Centauri." 1t
took the telegram one-hour and thirty-fve
minutes to reach it's destination, by the
way of Russia, and three days afterwards,
after two unsucces:fnl trials MT. Pogson
decided nucleus, but no tail, and about
forty five seconds In diameter"
These missing tails, to which the earth
10 liable to be introduced Nov. n. furnish
Ignatius UOnnelly with food for the follow
ing reflections in "Rsgnarok:" Aftor arRu-
ing that comet consists of solid nucleus,
giving out fire and gas, enveloped in .
great gaseous mass, and tail made mp of
stones, possibly gradually diminishing In
size as they recede from the nucleus, until
the after part Of 1t 10 composed of fine dust
ground from the pebbles and powders;
while hey ond this there may be . still fur
ho remarks: lit IL true that the
earth came near enough in 1872
to attract some of the wandering grav-
ell stones unto itself, and that they fell,
blazing and consuming themselves with
the friction of our atmosphere and reached
the surface of our planet. if at all, cosmio
dust. But where were the assets of these
bankrupt comets; They were probably
scattered around in space, floating hither
In another volume of gas; whlle the two
heads had fed away. like the fugitive
presidents of couple of broken banks to
the Canadian refuge of Theta Centaurp-
shorn of their spleDdors and reduced to
first principles"
From Theta Centauri to Beta Androme.
dae 10 a long distance to be travelled in
twenty years. even at comet speed. but
Biela is not far from the latter now. Amer
lean and European astronomers. some OF
whom are still undecided ~ to whether the
comet is really the one discovered by the
Austrian officer, are united in the assertion
that the phenomenon promised for Nov. 81
Will be the most Important OF many ages.
Although the aerial wonder will not come
closer to tho earth than one million miles.
that will be close enough for satisfactory
observ alton and safety. The comet will be
visible to the naked eye in few days and
will be of deep red color. growing rapidly
in brilliancy and size. The tail. through
which 1t is thought the earth will pass, ten.
nous as the aurora, even moro 80 than the
rainbow will. on account of the nearness,
furnish q beautiful sight.
1t 10 generally believed that comets have
collided with the earth, deaths of human
beings resulting In those cases from actual
contact. But there is another way in
which mortality might be caused-by the
poisoning of the atmosphere by admixture
Of great quantities Of Raseous matter that
had belong to q comet Some people ad-
vance the theory that only IN this way can
great residential visitations. such as the
famous BLACK death,n be explained. But
such things are without tho range of DOS
sibilities arising from the present vista
ton.