The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-05-21
By OBSERVER.


that the astronomer, Pons, caught the
first glimpse Of the comet which to-
day bears his name. coupled with that
of the astronomer, Winnecke, but it
was not until June, 1919, that the
orbit OF the celestial visitant was COM
puted by Encke At that time 1t was
fcuno to have a period OF approx
mately five and one-half years and
it has adhered fairly closely to its
schedule during the six score years
the world has known it.
Pons-Winnecke. or Winnecke. as 1t
is now generally known is again APP
preaching perihelion (that point in its
orbit lying nearest the SUM which II
will reach June IS Its nearest ap-
proach to the earth will be a week
earlier, June or I. when 1t will be
some twelve or thirteen million miles
away After passing perihelion the
comet will gradually grow fainter until
August, when it will disappear com
pletely until another five and oHe-half
years finds it again in our neighbor-
hood. The expected collision in the
latter part of June with this comet is
therefore off.
Not Naked Eye Comet
At no time will Pons-Winnecke be
a naked eye comet but must be looked
for in q telescope and even there IT
is not an inspiring spectacle. 1t is as
the usual order of short period comets,
taiIlesx Its magnitude at this time
is between 10 and II on the scare; anS
as objects beyond the fifth magnitude
are discernible only to the keeHesl
visioned, and beyond the sixth nagni,
tute, require optical assistance, 1t viii
be useless to search for it
Comets are. perhaps. the most care
less members OF our sidereal system
And yet the carelessness is not inner
ent in the comet itself but Is rather
the result of the combined influences
Of the planetary bodies in the solar
system and the sun, ITSELF A conner
NAV come along hours or days ahead
of il schedule or even behind time;
II may give evidence of an extremely
close approach TO the earth. even con-
tact with it and a few weeks later
new elements in the orbit show that II
will not be nearer than score OF mil
lion miles.
| Comets have been ever since the ad-
vent of man, objects of terror: har-
! bingers of wars, pestilence and famine.
Even today the majority of people
look upon the approach OF a comet
with a feeling of trepidation that does
not pass until the strange visitor has
once more resumed a course that
I takes him away from the immediate
vicinity OF our tiny sphere Contact
with the head of a comet has never
been actually recorded. and while the
Il
| matter of conjecture, It is likely that
we should never realize it has hap
pened until it was all over.
| A Real Close-Up View.
/ Let US get q real closeup view of
| one OF these celestial messengers and
| see what he consists of. First. we'll
| have to phone q certain manufacturer
OF motor cars to turn US out . car
which will run on q mixture that viii
not freeze up easily, and which is SO
geared that we can step along to the
tune Of $4,000 miles in a second of
time. Then we'd better take some
sneayies'' with Us for it's going to be
close to 46o degrees below zero out
where we are going Now, IL every
thing is ready. let's 60
In almost less time than IL takes
to tell it. were nearing the region of
the giant planets and in four hours
we've reached the known frontiers OF
1 our sola- system But we've just
started For two years wen keep up
our pace and then stop, half way TO
Il the nearest star.
II Grow Accustomed TO Darkness.
Il We've grown accustomed to the
darkness by this time so that nearby
objects make an impression on Us
Here floating aimIessly about are bits
of roek.-cosuic dust. it is called
varying IN size and weight from grains
Of sand to rocks Of many tons Here
so far removed from grayitational at
! traction they have no weight
At last we find what we are seek
| ling. Drifting slowly along Is mas.