The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-05-18
AWAITING THE
TRANSIT OF COMET
CONTINUED from Page One.)

iSOutluutu lltih oS0 SAS'J
bv the sun 5 heat, and there is a chance
that various parts Of the nucleus are
large enough to cast shadows on the
sun : disk. The transit will take about
IN hour and the comet will be IN the
center of the sun at Is minutes past
FIVE this afternoon, according to cable
inst received from Doctor Hall, which
s the result of the last observation:
and calculations, probably at Harvard
observatory
1.-THE exact time of the earth S be
mo within the tail can not be stated
with certainty, as it is impossible tc
say whether the tail is curved or not
f the tail is straight line, Of course
the earth will enter it some time be
fore the comet 5 nucleus begins IL
| cross the sun, as seen from here, the
tail being much wider than the nucleus
and the earth Will naturally be in the
! tail for some time after the transit Of
i the nucleus is over. The time of earth :
entering the tail may be any time be
tween tonight, Tuesday, and Thursday
morning.
u doubt whether there viii be any
visible effect Of earth 5 passing through
! l.
| it would probably cause some illumina-
! ton
Professors Lord and Coddington are
| at Haleiwa. where they will use the
spectrograph, hoping to get some photo
graphs which Will Indicate the compost
ton Of the comet. The cable received
by Professor Ellerman was transmitted
to them yesterday.
The question Of what comets are
composed of has been long subject of
speculation ard controversy among
astronomers. The opportunity of today
is the best that has ever occurred for
settling it. \ writer in Collier 5 says:
\ year ago | made the announce
ment that comets '|tails'' were sun
light, focused and transmitted through
space by the heads of comets acting
a huge, spherical lenses. In other
vclds, the tail of comet is prac
tically the same as the beam of a
searchlight This has since been proven
by observation at many obseryatories.
When Halley's comet passes between
the earth and sun on May 1920, the
earth will merely be bathed in an extra
flood Of light. If the passage occurs
in. the day and the sky be clear, we
shall have hot, brilliant day. If
at night, it viii be bright, if the
moon, at that time just past first quar-
ter, were at its fullest and brightest
and shining on freshly fallen snow.
We are not afraid of brilliant moon
light. The moon is only 100000 miles
aHay, while Hal'ay's comet at its near
est viii be sixty times as far from
tie earth. There is this difference,
though. The moon 5 light is reflected
sunlight, the comet 5 light is condensed
and transmitted sunlight. The earth
will be out of focus of this light this
time. 1t would take a comet over a
million miles in diameter, passing be
tween the earth and sun much nearer
than any comet ever has, to affect
the earth by focused light.
This can be understood by putting
some burnable object in sunlight and
placing a magnifying glass between 1t
and the sun. II the sunlight is not
focused on the object the glass merely
lights it up. The chance of any comet
passing the earth so its rays will be
focused on the earth is about one in
a billion. Therefore we need not WOr
~. Venus will practically anticipate
our experience by eighteen days, so we
Will have ample time to quiet our
fears before the comet reaches us.
Much has been written about the
evil effects of comets on the earth.
Much Of it is entoosaIusm. The |
presence Of an abnormal body, moving
at high speed through the solar sys-
TEN, is bound to result in some slight |
disturbance, but the earth successfully |
resists each second of its existence
greater strains than any comet could |
possibly cause. The earth is protected |
by a Wonderfully resilient and elastic |
atmosphere weighing 10000, 200, 000, 900 |
of tons. This titanic shock absorber |
has withstood the centrifugal pressure
of the solid earth for untold ages. and |
the centrifugal pressure of the earth !
can only be expressed in myriad muI |
tiples of millions. The passage of the !
comet will cause local disturbances |
But there is a vast difference between |
an eruption like krakatoa, in a comet |
year, or an earthquake like those of |
San Francisco or Messina and a uni |
versal deluge of water or fire or ex
tinction by cyanogen gas. There has !
been, and will be, unreasonable weather. |
auroral displays, magnetic disturbances, |
and other phenomena. but these are |
not to be feared as involving destruc- |
ton of the human race or its planet |
There is grave doubt in the minds |
of some astronomers that this comet is |
all of Halley's comet. The comet of !
May, 1909, pursued the same path and |
passed very close to the earth. Hal |
ley comet may have divided, as did |
BieIa :. Even So. it was large. or |
compact, enough to throw shaft of |
sunlight or tall two million miles |
long ON April i, the day before it
passed perihehon.