Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-07-07
THE SKIES IN JULY


excep.ed-we may follow with our imagin-
alton II not with our eyes the flight OF
this wandercr across the interplanentary
wastes For nearly forty years until
Few weeks ago the comet had been falling
toward the sun. gaining In velocity ana
momentum each moment But like bull
Jet fired from n moving car. 1t had side
wise momentum OF It's own and so missed
plunging directly into the fiery depths
OF the sun. As II sped past, the tremen-
dous attraction Of the central body de-
Elected the comets rushing course into
Curve and would have drawn II into IT.
self but for the mighty momentum which
the comet had gained In its forty years
un!npeded fall Speeding past, the comet
was able by this tremendous gathered
energy of long years. TO break away the
force that was pulling It down to fiery
death ard Is now safely departed on Its
long travel toward that point where II
must once more obey the summons and
return This will be about the year 1913
and will be at the mathematical instant
when tho momentum gathered from its
fall will have boen 30 exhausted as no
longer equal the lessencd but still effec-
tive attraction of the sun.
The superstition long entertained, that
Tho head Of the comet and. in less de
gree, the tall are composed Of discrete
particles of solid matter Is one which
has not been md is not likely to be over
thrown. 1t explains. as nothing else Will.
the fact that the comet approaches
the sun Il becomes more condensed, and
more diff1Be as 1t recedes. To Illustrate
this fact let us suppose that cloud of
particles situated at tho distance OF the
moon were to shower down upon tho
sarth. II this cloud were 1000 miles In
extent at the beginning. and each OF the
separate particles would taks Its direct
and independent course toward the center
Of the earth, their converging paths would
bring them all to the surface Of the
earth upon all area less than that OF
West chester county. And cloud OF such
thinnes5 that, Mt the distance OF the moon,
II could not be seen or imagined would,
when condensed Mt few miles from the
surface of the earth, seem very formid-
able object If tho particles of matter
composing the comet were In reality min
ute solids, they would Of necessity follow
converging paths In their long fall through
space toward the center of the sun and
equally diverging paths as they departed
= In other words, the comet would contract
/ as 1t approached the sun and expand as
Il departed. This is what it actually APP
pears to do.
What. then, Is tho comet? In all prob
ability a cloud Of ash. smoke, and gus.
with few stones of greater OF less d.
mansions. blown from the cone Of one of
the volcanoes which covered the crust
, Of some dying star. perhaps millions or
billions of years ago. In their long travel
through the universe they were attracted
by the sun. and during their circuit were
tripped and halted by the attraction Of
one or more of the greater planets. So
they journey round and round the sun.
with enough momentum to gave them
from the pertlous embrace, but net enough
to permit them to resume their wander
ings in nterstellar space. A late an
1.ouncement says that the tail appears to
be composed largely OF carbonmonoxide
gas. which may easily be Of volganc
origin. Among the gas the almost in
1lnitely divided dust particles keep up a
display of electric discharges sufficient to
reveal the presence Of the surrounding
gas which may easily be of volcanic
Of sunlight to be In the aggregate visible
When IIalley's comet shall have made
100 successive returns at intervals Of
seventysix years each tho watcher Of
the starry skies. living under happier and
nobler earthly conditions than his an
cestor Of to-day, will walk out under
summer skies very like to those we may
rec tonight. Arcturus will have moved
considerable distance from mis- present
position. The handle of the Big Dipper
will be bent still more sharply than now
and the bowl spread to a greater flare
A few stars may have gained or lost a
fraction Of magnitude In Brightness
and a few others will have changed
enough in position to be noticeable when
compared with ancient charts But tho
Milky Way will stil span the sky with
It's road of light, red Autares will still
look down from the southern sky, and
1he fireflies above tho meadows will mimic
The mighty stars above. even rs they do
Tonight In that interval procession will
have three times brought about tho
change of our present winter skies to the
season of summer. and three times the
considerations will have returned to the
places where We see them at present, and
at that time they will be about as now
When we look to tho northeast in tho
evenings Of carly July we see the white
light Of the Milky Way lying like cloud
against the sky. AS It rises higher We
pegn to recognize individual stars, scores.
Gundreds of them. We LIT our opera
'JIasscs-the hundreds become thousands.
} countless host, back of which lies the
Shimmering light of the hundreds OF
thousands more which the telescope Will
seveal In the richest portion lies the
Northern Cross. a figure OF six bright
stars forming u Roman cross with Dencb
. star SO bright that sometimes II he 8
been rated as Of the first magnitude
forming tho head OF the Cross At the
foot Of the Cross the Milky WAY Is cleft
| by the rift which extends as far as the
/ southern horizon OF the observer In this
! latitude. West Of the cross is seen tho
brilliant white star Vega IN the little
+ star. Epsilon Lyrae Is very near Vega
! An opera glass shows It as two stars and
:he telescope splits each of these into
two. Further along the Milky Way to
ehe north we como to the constellation
Cassiopeia. marked b. an irregular W.
Shaped figure OF six bright stars, often
compared to u brosen-hacked chair.
: This constellation. though small IN
area. contains about hundred naked
eye stars. given, OF course, a clear night
while an tnnumerable host Just below
that limit awaits introduction through the
opera glass or telescope. East Of the
Milky Way, Mt about the same distance
as Vega Is west. Is the little constellation
OF Delphinus, marked by the diamond
shaped figure known as Jobs Coffin.