Evening star., 1940-11-14
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

~ IROWUS n. HeHTy.
One Of the largest comets in 80 years
will become visible about November IS
and continue to increase IN brightness
until January Is.
The celestial object will appear near
the bright star Vega in the constella-
ton OF Lyra in the western sky and at
its closest will be about 100000 miles
from the earth-near enough to make
a brilliant display but far enough away
so that nobody need fear-as folks
did at the time of the last appearance
of Halley's comet in 1910-that its tail
will brush the earth and asphyxiate all
living things.
The new comet was discovered about
a month ago by Leland E. Cunningham
of the Harvard Observatory staff and
probably will be known as Cunningham's
comet. 1t is the fifth comet discovered
this year. All the others have been
invisible to the naked eye. In 1887 there
were eight.
From the beginning Of civilization
comets have been regarded as omens
of disaster and it has always been
possible to associate terrible disasters
with comet years. 1t is forgotten, Of
course, that equal mistortunes have
occurred in years when there were no
comets. The present war. however, is
likely to be associated by superstitious
persons with Cunningham's comet.
So far as anybody can determine, the
appearance of comet has no physical
effect on the earth whatsoever. Even
if it should come close enough to Craze
this planet it is doubtful if there would
be any disaster Its gases are so tenu-
Gus that they would hardly effect the
earths atmosphere. Solid objects would
be consumed like meteorites falling
through the air. Perhaps nobody would
know the difference.
At its brightest Cunninghams comet
will be a fairly brilliant object in the
Christmas sky. There have been some
speculations as to whether the Star
of Bethlehem may not have been an
exceptionally bright comet.
An appearance Of Halley's comet in
1865 was universally believed to have
been a forerunner Of the Norman Con-
quest Of England. So great was the
Significance attached to 1t that it was
embroidered on the celebrated Bayeux
tapestry, one Of the most cherished
relics Of French history. which tells the
story of the invasion in "a scenes.
When the same object flashed through
the sky in 1853, several days Of prayer
were decreed for the averting Of the
wrath of God, that whatever calamity
impended might be turned from the
Christians against the Turks. Charles v,
it is recorded by DR. F. R. Moulton,
secretary of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, was so
frightened by the appearance of a comet
in 1856 that he abdicated his throne and
retired to a monastery for the rest Of
his life.
The great comet Of 1852, he records,
led Ralph Thoresby, fellow member
Of Sir Isaac Newton in the Royal So
ciety, to write in his diary Lord At
us for whatever changes it may por-
tend. I am not ignorant that such
meteors proceed from natural causes
yet they are frequently also the presages
of imminent calamities."
Until the time of the Danish astron-
omer, Tycho Brahe, in the late 18th
century, DR.. Moulton records, it was
universally believed by both theologians
and scientists that comets were visitors
in the atmosphere of the earth, rather
than interplanetary bodies. Aristotle and
his followers regarded them as terrestrial
emanations that became ignited in the
upper air Brahe established through
observation the fact that they are at
least as far away from the earth as
the moon.
The fact that comets move in orbits
through the solar system and return
to the neighborhood of the earth at
regular intervals was established by the
English astronomer Edward HALEY, also
an associate of Newton Tracing back
the records after the appearance of a
comet in 1882 he was able to demonstrate
that very similar object in essentially
the same position had been seen in 1907,
1Ool, A1oU, 1oO1, 111op 1VOo, dliu plOUduIy
several times before He predicted that
it would be seen again in the spring of
1859 and his predictions were fulfilled.
This particular object was last seen in
1910.
Spectroscopic observations show, ac-
cording to DR.. Charles G. Abbot, secre-
tary Of the Smithsonian Institution, that
comets are composed partly Of gaseous
materials-mainly compounds of carbon.
nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. They
are excessively tenuous and of small
mass. Very faint stars, DR.. Abbot says,
many times have been observed through
the center of the nucleus of comet
thousands of miles in diameter, without
perceptibly dimming their light.
Perhaps the nearest approach ever
made to the earth was by Lexell's comet
which came within 100000 miles on
July /, ITO. The French astronomer
Laplace showed that if its mass had
been one five-thousandths of the mass
of the earth the year would have been
heightened appreciably. Nothing Of the
sort happened.
Ruria1 of Political