The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1910-02-03
THE NEW COMET
interesting Comment By Prof.
Iiibbard OF Lewiston.


ing the comet which has been attract
log so mnch attention lately. said
Sundays Lewiston Tribune. Pro.
lessor Hubbard said E;
ssSince Comet A Is 10 be with US
n several weeks and perhaps
mouths number of interesting ques.
lions have arisen concerning Il,
among which the following are the
most prominent Is Il Comet1
What Is comet1 Is Il Halley's
ccmet1 Where Do Comets Come
From7 Is II Going Down or Up1
win II Strike the Earth What
Would Happen Il Il Did,
ITO begin With these questions. !
would say that Il Is comet and not
a meteor or cluster Of meleEgs as has
been suggested. A meteor shines
only when red hot, due 10 friction
With the earth's atmosphere. while a
comet shines by reflected light only.
A meteor will last only as long as
il takes il 10 come through the two
or three hundred miles OF the rarth's
atmosphere. afew minutes al mos.
while a comet Is visible in the sky
for days and perhaps moashs
before saying JEST What comet
Is Il must be- remembered that the IN
lersiellar space where comets start
from Is The most perfect kidd Of :
vacuum Ia vhi.h an iron bali and a
feather would fan through equal
spaces In the same time. II you are
10 understand just shat mean by
saying that comet Is mere "airy
nothing" Ia other words Il Is a col
lection Of duss particles whose sprci.
he gisy Is probably one-hundrsdih
thai < -,r atmosphere. These dust
particles are closest together At The
head hence lis greatest bfilliancy al
that point. The dust PARTICLES Ia the
tail being farher apart do nOireaec'
as much light and hence lis lesser
brillianey.
"Just where comets originate is
unknown. Il Is supposed that they
xere termed osl 81 The material thai
was left over after The planets wefe
formed IN the different soiz' systems
and that due 10 the attraction Of our
sun or some other sul these particles
arc lice cd together IN the form
found In the comets OF today
"As any rate ne know that they
come head first from on. the depths
OF initiate space With head from
City thousand miles and up~afds In |
ridsh and tail from ten million TO |
one hundred million miles In length
and after perlhelion passage they be- |
come visible 10 the naked eye and
20 away tail FIRST whence they came
sometimes With a velocity Of from
one hundred 10 Two hundrcd.thousand |
miles an hour.
III you will note The time, on diff
ferns nights. Of The sinking below the
western horizon a Comet A YOU sill |!
observe that Il disappears later each |
evening. This shoss that il has just
made its pcrhelIon passage and also
that IL is going up through the sky |
tail FIRST II will probably be wish
bic for two months and ought 10 get
brighter each evening as Il gets fufth-
sr away from the sun. II you look
closely you will notice iis tail swing
away TO the south. This Ia due TO
he fact that the sun attracts the
head more than the tail on account
,f the greater density ofths head.
should Judge that this tail Is fully
ninty million miles long while its
head is probably thirty thousand
niles wide.
cit was FIRST suggested that 1!
nigh, be Halley's comet. This is
lot the case. The path Of HalIey's
'omes and the time Of It's pcrihelion
|sssage are known more exactly
han any reader Of this paper can
Measure the length Of his or her
'oat.
''Halley's comet will make Its
'erihelion passage exactly on May
a and soon after will become visible
Q the unaided eye. Unfortunately
hfe ~rtit ~ "a -. l.. tt.e <,.orrtur inst