Book contents
- Frontmatter
- EDITOR'S PREFACE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS RELATIVE TO COMETS
- CHAPTER II COMETARY ASTRONOMY UP TO THE TIME OF NEWTON
- CHAPTER III THE MOTIONS AND ORBITS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IV PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER V PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER VI THE WORLD OF COMETS AND COMETARY SYSTEMS
- CHAPTER VII PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION OF COMETS
- CHAPTER VIII PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IX MASS AND DENSITY OF COMETS
- CHAPTER X THE LIGHT OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XI THEORY OF COMETARY PHENOMENA
- CHAPTER XII COMETS AND SHOOTING STARS
- SECTION I WHAT IS A COMET?
- SECTION II IS THE MATTER OF COMETS DISPERSED IN THE INTERPLANETARY SPACES
- SECTION III COMETS AND SWARMS OF SHOOTING STARS
- SECTION IV COMMON ORIGIN OF SHOOTING STARS AND COMETS
- CHAPTER XIII COMETS AND THE EARTH
- CHAPTER XIV PHYSICAL INFLUENCES OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XV SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT COMETS
- I ELLIPTIC ELEMENTS OF THE RECOGNISED PERIODICAL COMETS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
- II GENERAL CATALOGUE OF THE ORBITS OF COMETS
- Plate section
SECTION IV - COMMON ORIGIN OF SHOOTING STARS AND COMETS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- EDITOR'S PREFACE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS RELATIVE TO COMETS
- CHAPTER II COMETARY ASTRONOMY UP TO THE TIME OF NEWTON
- CHAPTER III THE MOTIONS AND ORBITS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IV PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER V PERIODICAL COMETS
- CHAPTER VI THE WORLD OF COMETS AND COMETARY SYSTEMS
- CHAPTER VII PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONSTITUTION OF COMETS
- CHAPTER VIII PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF COMETS
- CHAPTER IX MASS AND DENSITY OF COMETS
- CHAPTER X THE LIGHT OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XI THEORY OF COMETARY PHENOMENA
- CHAPTER XII COMETS AND SHOOTING STARS
- SECTION I WHAT IS A COMET?
- SECTION II IS THE MATTER OF COMETS DISPERSED IN THE INTERPLANETARY SPACES
- SECTION III COMETS AND SWARMS OF SHOOTING STARS
- SECTION IV COMMON ORIGIN OF SHOOTING STARS AND COMETS
- CHAPTER XIII COMETS AND THE EARTH
- CHAPTER XIV PHYSICAL INFLUENCES OF COMETS
- CHAPTER XV SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT COMETS
- I ELLIPTIC ELEMENTS OF THE RECOGNISED PERIODICAL COMETS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
- II GENERAL CATALOGUE OF THE ORBITS OF COMETS
- Plate section
Summary
Transformation of a nebula which has entered into the sphere of the sun's attraction; continuous parabolic rings of nebulous matter–Similarity between the elements of the orbits of meteor streams and cometary orbits–The August stream; identity of the Leonides and the comet of 1862–Identity of the Perseids and the comet of 1866 (Tempel)–The shooting stars of April 20 and the comet of 1861–Biela's comet and the December stream–Did the earth encounter Biela's comet on November 27,1872?
It still remains to explain the origin of meteor swarms or streams, and the reason of their annual periodicity and the maxima which appear at dates separated by intervals of several years. For this purpose it will be necessary for a moment to quit the domain of fact and consider some theoretical speculations.
The swarms of shooting stars appear to be constituted, as it were, of aggregations of particles separated from one another by some distance. But if, instead of seeing them on their arrival in the proximity of the earth, in contact with its atmosphere, it were possible to contemplate them from a distance in the heavens, the whole of these myriads of particles, whether illuminated by the sun's rays or shining by their own light, would appear to the observer like a cloud or nebulosity.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The World of Comets , pp. 430 - 452Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1877