The Washington herald., 1913-03-02
BY WILLIAM l.. ALTDORFER.

Suppose a ball of iron l5o miles in di-
ameter, weighing millions and millions
Of tons. falling at the rate Of 500 miles
minute, were 10 strike the earth. what
would happen? The answer to such an
appalling catastrophe 1 shall leave to
your 1masination That is the weight
and mass of the ordinary comet, as
judged By Uncle Sans leading astrono-
mers, and the question is suggested be-
cause during the year 1913 many comets
are expected to visit the vicinity of this
mundane sphere. The number lS is a
hoCdoo number. and many are the SUI
perstitions connected with 1t, so Il would
not be surprising If the year 1913 should
bring ia its train many disasters and
thereby live up to It's unholy reputation
Of the past.
So lonS as the memory OF man goes
back, the appearance OF a comet has
always been taken as q cause for dread
In the train Of comets, II has ever been
held come wars, bloodshed fires Hoods
plaques, famine, and all the other calam-
tiles possible 20 the human race. Sylvss-
ter. the noted poet of olden time, says:
''Canst thou fearless gaze
Even night BY night that Irocfiyious blaze
Thst hairy on1et, that long. streaming star
Which threatens earth with famine, plague, and
var
For ages the appearance of a comet has
been the cause Of much fear and intense
interest among the inhabitants Of Mother
Earth. And even to-day, after centuries
of study Of that celestial phenomenon.
most people have a superstitious dread
OF impending calamity when they hear
that certain comets are about TO ap-
proach the earth. In the old days even
scientists shared this superstition, but
to-day the science of astronomy has pro-
Eressed so far that the men who follow
this science laugh at such fear. They
reason upon the basis If cold facts upon
which intuition and superstition have no
bearing On the contrary. the average
mortal reasons not only on facts but
usually lets his judgment be swayed
by superstition and the fear Of the
known. And so 1t will continue as long
as human nature 10 constituted as It IS
to-day.
There are five periodic comets due TO
return during the year 1913. They are
named after the men who discovered
them-Holmes. Finlay De Eico, f. Swift,
Encke's comet, and Westphars comet
Holmes comet. the first expected to ap-
pear during the year. has Il very inter
csting history. II * remarkable because
the last time il was seen. In 1892 it
hurst into 50 sudden hrlllanry, that as
tronomers say It must haV" been one of
the great stars i'll the heavens suddenly
thrown out nf its orbit by some powerful
unknown force. and, taking fire. took up
its endless course tsrouch space as a
comet.
Why Stars Leave Their Orbits.
The peculiar phenomenon is explained
In this way: Many stars have "A fixed
orbit. the same as the earth, but some
times a tremendous upheaVal occurs suf-
fcient to throw the star from its orbit
1t Is then cast into space, bursts into
flame, and Immediately takes up its end
less travels through the heavens, an I'M
mense bail OF fire travelling at such ter
rife velocity that It finally burns up and
disappears altogether. That is what
might happen to the earth Were A dis
turbanCe to take place In its immediate
vicinity sufficient to throw It of its or
bit. The earth would Immediately be-
come comet and travel trough space
until IN the end II burnt up or fell into
the sun.
The next Iomet to appear will be Fin
lays This comet was first discovered
in lSc and again seen in 1906. At the
last return it passed perihelion-the time
when a comet approaches nearest the
sun-on September 5. Both Holmes and
Finlays comets have a period OF about
seven years. Next in order will appear
the De ViCo-E. Swift comet Sometime
about the middle or April Encke's comet
will be visible. This comet also has an
interesting history. Scientists say its Or
bit has changed and that this change
was brought about by a resisting medium
somewhere in space: that is. there is
some attraction -ufficiently great to
change its course. and eventually the
comet will be drawn closer and closer
to the sun until It finally drops into
that body and disappears. The most in
teresting wanderer Of the heavens 10 ap-
pear during this year. however. will be
Westphal's comet last seen about sixty
wears ago. In 1S7@ Astronomers all over
tn" world will be on the lookout for this |
great comet.
These are all the periodic comets ex-
rected during 1915. As distinguished
from the periodic comets are the ordi-
nary comets which move in a parabola |
that is, a curve across the heavens