THE COMET’S TAIL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2283, 31 May 1921, Page 1

THE COMET’S TAIL.

(By Philip Myring.)

The announcement that the earth may pn3s through part of. a comet's tail this year may cause a feeling of alarm in the ignorant. But a little knowledge of the nature of these heavenly bodies should allay all fears.

A comet consists of a small head centred round a more or less solid “nucleus,” and a very large tail. What would happen if the head of a comet were to come into direct collision with the earth is uncertain. It would probably depend on the degree of solidity of tho “nucleus.” There is no record of such an encounter in the world’s history, and the smallness of the two objects in comparison with the immensities of space makes the chances of it cx-i ceedingly remote. But even if the earth were to sustain a “direct hit” in this fashion it is likely that the result would be nothing m,ore disastrous than some brilliant displays of “shooting stars.” A comet’s tail, however, may stretch across many millions of miles of space, and the earth must have passed through part of one thousands of times in its existence. It has done so at least twice in the last 100 years. The effect of the passage on these occasions has been practically nothing; at the most a few attractive meteoric shpvvcrs and a slight luminosity of the night sky.

The harmlessness of a comet’s tail is due to its inconceivable tenuity. The faintest stars will shine, through it undinmted. Indeed, a famous astronomer has said that a comet's tail measuring millions of miles in length and many thousands in'thickness could be packed into ;> hat-box. So there is nothing to fear from the coming return of the PonsWinnecke comet. One can only hope—for (here is no certainty in regard to the'exact appearance of a comet at each visit to the earth's neighbourhood— that it will develop into an object visible to the naked eye, and be.as beautiful as it is harmless.