The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-03-11
WILL IT STRIKE THE EARTH ?
The Professors all Say That 1t Is
Possible.
81. Louis Republic.

~ A<o"to %sStoSStS'
Boston, Mass, February 22.-Per-
rine's comet is advancing towards the
earth at the p%rodigious pace of 1,600,-
900 miles a day, and unless it changes
it's course it may hit the earth some
time during Saturday, March 18th.
Prof. Lenschuer, of the State Univer-
sity Of California, has just completed
his calculations Of the orbit Of the
new comet which was discovered by
Astronomer Perrine, Of the Lick Uni
versity, a few days ago. His calcula-
tions convince him that the comet will
take a new course on March 1st and
sheer away from the earth. If, how
ever, the professor has made a mistake
of a m%illioneth part of a unit in his
figures, the comet may strike US.
Prof. Pickering, Of the Harvard
Observatory, was seen this evening by
a reporter and asked if It were posi-.
bic for the comet aud the earth to
meet in collision. His reply was that
such a thing was certainly possible.
Comets" he said, shave no special
relation to the earth, and if the earth
happened to be in the path Of one it
would. of course, be struck. I am not
prepared to say just what would hap
pen. No one knows. You see, we
have no record Of any such experience.
The only mar who dares to say much
on this subject is Prof. G. A. Young,
of Princeton, and I'll give. you his
opinion on the subject, because he has
given that line more attention than l
| have.
"Prof. Young's opinion is that a
comet is nothing but a sand bank;
that is, it is a swarm Of solid PARTICLES
of unknown size and widely separate,
say, pin heads, several hundred feet
apart, each particle carrying with it
an envelope Of gas, largely hydrocar-
bon, in which gas light is produced,
either by electrical discharges between
the particles or by some other light,
the evolving action being due to the
suns influence. This hypothesis de-
rives its chief plausibility from the
modern discovery Of the close relation
ship between meteors and comets.
"Prof. Young says that comets may
hurt US in two ways, either by actu-
ally striking the earth or by falling
into the sun, aud thus producing such
an increase of solar heat as to burn us
up"
In regard to the possibility Of a col
lision with a comet, Prof. Pickering
said that it was to be admitted that
such an event was possible; sin fact
he continued, eff the earth lasts long
enough such a thing is practically sure
to happen, for there are several comets
orbits which pass nearer to the earth 8
orbit than the semi-diameter of the
comets head, and at some time the
earth and comet will certainly come
together. Such encounters will, how
ever, be rare. If we accept the esti-
mate of Babinet they will occur once
in fifteen millions Of years in the long
run
AS to the consequence Of such a
collision, Prof. Pickering said it was
impossible to estimate for want of sure
knowledge of the state Of aggregation
of the matter composing a comet. IF
we accept the modern theory" he
said, "and if this theory be true, every
thing depends on the size of the sepa-
rate solid particles which form the
main mart Of the comets mass. If
they weigh ions the bombardment
would be very serious, but if, as seems
more likely, the particles are smaller
than pin heads, the result would be
simply a grand meteoric shower.
"Now," continued the Professor,
although the possibility of that comet
striking the earth is real, still the
probability is not so great. So far as
we know, the probability is not much
greater than that of some other comets
striking us. At the Harvard observa-
tory here, we have not yet had the
three good observations which are re-
ouired before VIC can make any COM
putation.
"This is for the reason that so many
other o~bservatories are watching comets
that we devote our time to things
which they cannot do so well as we
can. Of course, if the time comes
when we are in a position where our
observations will count for much, we
shall devote u energies to Them
Professor Garrett P. Serviss says
that there is little possibility of the
comet hitting the earth. If it should
nit the earth, he says, the most seri-
Gus result would be its effect on the
health of the earth's inhabitants.
Serviss, in an interview, discussed
The report that Perrine's comet is
travelling towards the earth at a rate
Of loo, 900 miles a day, and that a
collision was probable. He said:
II judge the comet is & small one,
perhaps as large as the earth. That
would not be very large for a comet.
1t is probably not coming toward US,
as the dispatches say. If it is, then
there is no possibility of it hitting US.
We are travelling 10 miles q second;
and by March IA, the date they talk
about it's arriving, we shall be millions
of miles from where we are now. 10
hit US, it must be travelling toward the
spot about 40, 600, 900 miles from here,
where we shall be on March IA.
Whether or not the calculations that
have been made about the present
position of the comet, its velocity and
it's course are exact depends upon
whether the observations have been
good.
ut is not likely that they are exact,
for a comet is a hazy body, and it is
difficult to get good observations. If
it was a point like a star it could be
told with mathematical certainty just
where it would be at a certain minute
or hour, but being a hazy thing, it is
difficult to see where is the head, the
greatest point of condensation, and to
tell exactly what the comet is doing.
You remember in 1892 it was thought
for some days that a comet was going
to hit US, and then I discovered that
the comet was going away from US in
stead of coming toward US.
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