The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1920-12-10

may break up and have several
branches. The tail Of a comet NAV !.
disappear and q new one may form. !
Tne tail Of comet may be thought !!
u as streamer or a number OF /
streamers. flowing from one head |
~ y SAID that when a comet Is far |
away from the sun il has no tail.
Tne path Of comet round the sun
Is much more eliptical than that of
any planet. and the route OF the
comet goes far beyond Neptune. lf
you can see comet that Is a great
distance from the sun 1t has no tail,
but the closer il comes to the sun
the more OF tail there becomes and
when It is very near the sun there
can be seen a large stream OF lisht
behind It. The comets are travelling
very fast when they pass the sun;
II they we're not the sun would draw
them to It by the force of grayita-
ton. When the comet Is leaving
the sun the tail goes first.
The part of the comet next to the
sun is always the head and the part
the farthest away is always the tail,
The comets tail is made up of two
forces. First, there is the nucleus
of the comet which is throwing light
stuff out from itself. II the comet
is far from the sun this stuff is made
very slowly, and surrounds the nu
cleus, forming sort of fog or
hair, which gives the comet its name.
When the comet is near the sun,
second force takes place, and the
matter which is thrown cut from
the nucleus is now pushed by the
sun away from the side farthest
from the sun. There was discovered
in America in 1908 a very fine comet,
which has been very carefully photo
graphed at Greenwich, and these pic
lures have shown more about the
tail Of the comet than ever before.
The nucleus of comet is not equal.
ly active at all times 1t is like the
volcanoes. it undergoes changes.
Astronomers have found Of late
that light has a pressure or pushing
power and even heat rays nave the
same power, and ii is called "radia
tion pressure" 1t is this pressure
Z, that makes the tail of comet ap
pear when it is near the sun.
The most famous comet was the
! one named after the great astrono
Iiner HALEY. This comet vas frs
seen by Keplar in 1907 HALEY saw
/ comet in 1882 and it seemed to b,
, in the same place as the one kepla1
, discovered; and which HALEY boliey
cd had travelled around the sun il
about seventy-fye years. Halle.
worked out this theory and proves
r his case. This was the first theor,
, regarding comets that was satisfae
torily proven. This same comet ha
} been seen several times before thi
{ and was seen last in 1919. In ofde'
/ days it frightened people.
The life of comet it is said is M
: as long as that of star or even
: planet. They are apt to burn VI
e Now having studied about con
$ cts we shall turn our attention tt
Q ward meteors. The name meteo
r or metcorites means shooting sta
Ancient people used to believe that
8 meteor was star; this has bse
/ proven to be different Those brigh
q flashes across the sky that we ca
o shooting stars are not stars; they al
believed to be pieces of brokenpii
comet, and they travel round the su
e II is a complete closed circle wher
8 the sky is crarnmed with stars: tths
e is their lights meet each otheresyt
there are gaps where We see through
a Astronomers say that the sun is ver
much alone in the center of all tn
/. stars. They cannot tell whether th
whole milky way is moving at al
s Looking closely at the milky wa
II one can see that the stars are
g close together that their lights al
n all blended together. They look In
y a thin cloud or milky streak sprea
2 across the sky.
r There is much more that could
Is added TO the story 3f astronomy D.
8 | was just giving you little idea
S what astronomy really is.
@ in a regular path. Tne earth ear
/. wear crosses the path Of meteors al
Is as the meteors pass through the
I. mosphere they become white ho' a
, nearing like shooting stars
h meteor is said to be a piece
q iron which has had, before II fell
= the earth. a good deal of carbon
r If The carbon has probably bur
n nD &Dile ldlitits-. 49, 49,
m hat comets become broken down
N they grow cider and it is beileF'
g that they. in time wear away =
" become meteors.
ir I'm November about every thir'
& ihrea or thirty-four years there a
seen more meteors than at any o'h
time.
u sky Dust and coonnic Matter.
y The sky dust or csT1ic mPtte7
$. perhaps the remains o. comets b
rs not nearly all of il can have tins o
n. gin. there is far too much oi II
lg some of the sky dust comes out
u the ether. We are told that SCI
es lists know but little about me D
le tory of this dust. So this sublt
wiz, have to remain for the astr'
cmers of today to solve for US.
what Is Light.
y Light is an electric current and
IN win run down If something does
keep il going. To make light, 81
" must spread power; and II the n
newer runs down the light v
RI - ,iohs will die AWAY III