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
- CHAPTER XIII COMETS AND THE EARTH
- SECTION I COMETS WHICH HAVE APPROACHED NEAREST TO THE EARTH
- SECTION II COMETS AND THE END OF THE WORLD
- SECTION III MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF A COLLISION WITH A COMET
- SECTION IV CONSEQUENCES OF A COLLISION BETWEEN A COMET AND THE EARTH ACCORDING TO THE MECHANICAL THEORY OF HEAT
- SECTION V THE COMET OF 1680, THE DELUGE, AND THE END OF THE WORLD
- SECTION VI PASSAGE OF THE EARTH THROUGH THE TAIL OF A COMET IN 1861
- 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 VI - PASSAGE OF THE EARTH THROUGH THE TAIL OF A COMET IN 1861
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
- CHAPTER XIII COMETS AND THE EARTH
- SECTION I COMETS WHICH HAVE APPROACHED NEAREST TO THE EARTH
- SECTION II COMETS AND THE END OF THE WORLD
- SECTION III MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF A COLLISION WITH A COMET
- SECTION IV CONSEQUENCES OF A COLLISION BETWEEN A COMET AND THE EARTH ACCORDING TO THE MECHANICAL THEORY OF HEAT
- SECTION V THE COMET OF 1680, THE DELUGE, AND THE END OF THE WORLD
- SECTION VI PASSAGE OF THE EARTH THROUGH THE TAIL OF A COMET IN 1861
- 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
Possibility of our globe passing through the tail of a comet–Has such an event ever taken place?–The great comet of 1861–Relative positions of the earth and one of the two tails of that comet–Memoir of M. Liais and the observations of Mr. Hind.
Thus far, in treating of the possibility of a rencontre between a comet and the earth, we have more especially had in view the nucleus, or rather that portion of the comet's nebulosity which constitutes the coma. The effects of the rencontre have been studied on certain hypotheses respecting the mass and physical constitution of the comet whose nucleus we have supposed to be solid; this is far from certain, and, in any case, seems to be exceptional, as it is only in certain comets that the head is sufficiently condensed to exhibit a luminous nucleus.
A rencontre, of much greater probability, is that which would arise from the passage of the earth through the voluminous nebulosity of which the tail is formed. In all probability the masses of these appendages are all but inappreciable. Whatever opinion we may form of their nature, whether we regard them with Cardan and certain savants of our day as purely optical effects without material reality, or see in them the most tenuous portions of the atmosphere of the comet projected by a repulsive force, it appears certain that they consist of quantities of matter of extremely slight mass, and of even less density.
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- Information
- The World of Comets , pp. 486 - 492Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1877