Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-14
HALEY and His Comet
Bv Frederic j. Haskin

the United States who will be able to
say that they have seen Halley's comet
twice. The last time it was visible
Andrew Jackson was president of the
United States, and in the very thick of
his fight against the money power"
1t then turned back, and journeyed to-
ward infinity until after the close of
the civil war. when, in the middle of
Grants first term, 1t started back to-
ward the earth at the same mad pace
that had characterized its going.
Each time one of these black sheep of
the celestial family, as the comets have
been called appears to mortal sight 1T
is less bright than it was before. AS
they fly through space the solid mat
ter they cast off pours over them, with
the result that each succeeding return
finds them less brilliant. Some of those
with short circuits have shown up as
mere ghosts of their former selves, and
have finally failed to return altogether.
But about the time they were due to
return the earth crossed their orbit
and encountered a meteoric shower,
causing the scientists to understand
that meteors are but the flying debris
of an exploded comet.
There has been some discussion as
to our chance of collision with this re-
turning vagabond of space. That we
may Craze it's head by miss of only
about 100000 miles is predicted, and
that we may even pass through its tail
is said to be more than bare POSSIBLE
ity. But as this tail Is less substantial
than the best vacuum man has been
able to produce, there seems to be lit
tie possibility of serious damage, even
if we do sail right through it. 1t is
recorded that our grandfathers went
through the tail of a comet in 1873, and
that our fathers did the same thing in
1861
Some astronomers think we could
collide with the very head of the comet
itself and still escape unscathed. Prof.
Pickering thinks we have struck at
least one important comet, and that
it did no serious damage. He thinks
the great hole in the earth at Coon
Butte, Ariz,, was made by the core of
a comet striking there. He calls at
tention to the fact that there have
been 1872 meteorites of iron found in the
western hemisphere, as compared with
70 on the eastern, and concludes that
tnasmuch as they were most abundant
in the country contiguous to Arizona,
they are evidences of collision in
which the Coon Butte hole was the
principal damage sustained.
There were 292 meteorites observed to
fall in the nineteenth century, and
only twelve of these were of iron. Most
astronomers believe that iron meteor
ties are of cometary origin, while
those Of stone are of terrestrial origin,
having at some remote time in history
been hurled away from the earth by
some tremendous cataclysm. 1t must
have been a terrific explosion that sent
them wandering through space, for it
has been proven by the scientists that
if a terrestrial object is to get away
from the magnetism of the earth it
ct n ifaff l. ~ Nf
miles a second. OF course, the highest
explosive known has no such tremen-
douS power. 1t is one of those things
which have been theoretically proven,
but not practically demonstrated.
Comets have different gaits. Some
move q hundred miles a second, and
others loiter along at only ten to
twenty miles a second. Some of them
have to travel around such a vast
orbit that it takes them thousands of
years to make the circuit. Some of
them fly in straight line. perhaps,
through unending years. 1t would
take the kind which travel a hundred
miles a second more than 5000 years
to reach the nearest star.
No men in all the world have such
sense of mans littleness as those
who are sentinels on the astronomic
watch towers. We think we are some-
thing, but they exclaim with feeling
that David never knew, what is man
that thou art mindful of him?" The
earth looks big to the average mortal.
but the astronomers know that it is
smaller in proportion to the universe
than the tiniest germ that dwells in
our blood. They see one star so far
away that although 1t travels 200
miles between clock ticks, in a thou
sand years it seems to move only
through the diameter of three and a
half moons. They know that this
whole mighty universe is moving on
ward at the tremendous gait of twen-
ty-siX miles a second, but when it
comes to telling whether it is moving
in circle or in a straight line, where
the end of the journey will be, or what
the source of the infinite power that
propels it onward, they stand as help
less and dumb as untutored children.
They must confess that there are
realms In Gods universe where hui
man reason cannot go.
Tomorrow-The Statue of Lee.