Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1910-05-14
COMET WAS
STOLEN BY NEPTUNE
And Put to Work Running Round
the Sun 1000 Years Ago.
SOME INTERESTING READING

John Henry Frome, Lecturer on AS
tronbmy, Who Has Made a Special
Study Of the Celestial Visitor, Gives
His Ideas on the Haley Comet and
Comsts in General.
John Henry Frome, who is to lee.
ture on Halley's comet, Is an authority
or this branch of astronomy and has
made a special study OF the body
which is o attracting so much at
tention. Regarding comets in general
and Halley's comet in particular he
has the following to say:
Ever since Andrew Jackson was
President, Halley's comet has been
making IN of its periodical trips ID
the outpost of Il system. For three
quarters of a century, since 1885, this
most wonderful of celestial bodies has
been travelling through space.
Leaving the neighborhood of the
sun at a speed of more than 80 miles
a second, it gradually slowed down TO
a mere crawl after its fearful exper.-
ence in making its prehilion passage
and sought a season OF rest in the
peaceful debts of space some 5000
millions of miles from our fiery lumi-
nary. But its period OF recuperation
Is limited, never again until it is worn
out can Halley's comet escape the at
tractive powers of our sun More
than 1000 years ago 1t yentured upon
a tour Of our solar system, but the
great planet Neptune happened to be
prowling along in his orbit near
where the venturesome comet passed.
and his influence, added to that of the
sun, was sufficient to so defiec. the
airy visitor from its course that il
was captured and has never been
able to escape from the tyranny of its
captor.
Celestial Brigandaoe.
Most fascinating is this species OF
celestial brigandage, by the practice
of which many comets, mere chance
visitors from far distant realms of
space, have been coerced into Secom
ing members of the solar system. Just
how this press-gang business in car
ried on by our major planets is per
fectly we'll understood by astronomers
and offers one of the many thrilling
chapters of the romance of the skies.
We have recently gone through n of
these exciting epochs in the case of
the new comet discovered last jan
uary by Drake in South Africa. APP
parently this comet was not captured;
it did not pass very close to any Of
our big planets and after paying its
respects to the sun, made good its
escape.
'tNo one has yet been able to tell
us satisfactorily just what a comet IS.
There have been some shrewd suesses
and a number Z fantastic theories
put forward. The s~pectroscope has
shown us that there Is present in most
OF them iron hydrogen, carbon and a
few other elements common to our
own earth, the sun and the planets.
So far the comets have resisted all
efforts to weigh them and so ascer-
tain their mass. We can place such a
bulky body as far distant Jupiter in
the scale and even the weight of the
sun is known. but these phantoms OF
the sky which come and go, defy the
ingenuity of One thing seems
to be definitely settled The comets
consist of matter In an extremely at
tenuated form. Ii they are composed
of solid matter at all ii must be 10
an extremely minute state of division.
Comets frequently pass over stars in
their flight across the sky. yet the
| dimmest stars do not have their lustre
diminished to any eppreciable extent
Earth Has Been Brushed BY Comet.
"The earth passed plumb through
the tail of a comet on two occasions
during the last century, and we shall
surely pass through the tail of Hal
lley's comet. When the two bodies
pass, like ships that pass in the night
on May Is, they will be moving in
| opposite directions. Here is a very
interesting problem for the curiously
inclined to figure out. Assuming the
tail of the comet to be 1905 900 mile:
across. how long will it take the earth
to pass through the tail, the earth
moving In one direction at the rate
OF 10 miles a second, and the come
moving past it in the opposite direc
ton at the rate OF "a miles a second
Any one who will work this simple
proposition out will know just how
long It would be necessary 20 holC