“WIDE GUESS”
PREDICTION OF NEW COMET VIEWS OF DIRECTOR OF OBSERVATORY (P.A.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The prediction reported in yesterday’s cable news to have been made by Charles Morris, of Bethlehem, Orange Free State, that a great new comet will appear in 1953, was described as a “wild guess” by the director of tlie Carter Observatory, Mr I. L. Thomsen.
It appeared that Mr Morris had developed- a theory held by some astronomers that perhaps comets were produced by violent eruptions from other planets, commented Mr Thomsen. He might ho using this theory to suggest that the Krakatoa volcanic explosion would produce a comet. However, if an eruption was to produce anything like that, it would have to be shot up from the crater at seven miles a second to escape the earth’s gravltatibnal force.
Mr Thomsen said that even assuming this, he did not see how Mr Morris could know what would be the subsequent motions through space. Mr Morris might fluke something with his prediction, but it will be in the nature of a coincidence.
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Bibliographic details
Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 150, 11 April 1950, Page 4
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177“WIDE GUESS” Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 150, 11 April 1950, Page 4
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