COMETS.

Evening Star, Issue 22414, 11 August 1936, Page 8

COMETS.

Fncm the very earliest times comets have attracted widespread attention. In view of the magnificent spectacle which some of them present to us earthdwellers, this is hardly surprising. In bygone ages, when people were not accurately apprised by astronomers of the composition and movements of these interesting heavenly bodies, there was more than a tendency to regard them with superstitious awe. After all, it is only natural for human beings to seek an explanation of everything that appears within their vision, and in the absence of scientific enlightenment it was inevitable that there should be much talk of “ strange apparitions,” “ omens of misfortune,” and “ harbingers of famine, pestilence, wars, and the impending death of Princes.” Shakespeare makes Calpurnia in ‘ Julius Caesar ’ say;— When beggars die there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth . the death of Princes. Daniel Defoe, in his ! Journal of the Plague Year,’ mentions the demoralising effect on London in 1665 of a comet of a “ dull and languid colour ” and of “ motion very heavy, solemn, and slow,” the interpretation being that ” a heavy judgment, slow but severe, terrible and frightful, was already begun.” Furthermore, just before the Great Fire in the following year another comet appeared, “ bright and sparkling,” or, as others said, ” flaming, and its motion swift and fiery.” But for the knowledge that the astronomers have accumulated for us, it is within the bounds of possibility that the present visitor to the skies of the earth, comparatively unimpressive though it may be, would be held responsible for the unrest in Europe, culminating in fierce civil war in Spain. Then again, if, as in olden times, it could bo regarded as possessing a purely local influence, it might be made to bear the blame if Otago loses the Ranfurly Shield. When mortals do not know any better all manner of evil can be attributed to comets. We fear, however, that many people will not take this comet with sufficient seriousness even to grant it the honour of special observation round about the hour of midnight. The most famous of all comets is Halley’s. Halley it was who proved that a comet may return and be seen again. He found that the paths of the bright comet which appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 were almost identical, and this led him to forecast correctly that it would be seen again in 1758. The last visit of Halley’s comet was in 1910. Most people will recall the brilliance of the spectacle it made in the southern sky, which was more favourably placed for .observation than the northern. In May of that year this comet passed directly between the earth and the sun at a distance of about 15,000,000 miles. In his book ‘ Worlds Without End ’ Mr H. Spencer Jones (the Astronomer Royal) says that the tail was at least 20,000,000 miles long, and, as it was pointing directly towards us, the earth probably passed through it. Some alarm was caused by the publicity given to this occurrence, because the spectra of comets sbpw the presence of the very poisonous gas, cyanogen. But so attenuated is a comet’s tail that we had no indication at all that the earth was passing through it. The next suggestion of danger came in June, 1921, when the earth escaped collision with Pons-Winnecke’s comet by a few days only. However, authorities give the assurance that such p would be serious only if the assaulting comet were a large one, and then only for the region of the earth where the impact occurred. On the whole, comets appear to be just another fascinating celestial spectacle rather than a harbinger of ill or a physical menace.