Comet Madness by Richard J. Goodrich

Author:Richard J. Goodrich
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prometheus
Published: 2022-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

Halley’s Comet had yet to embrace its role of “terrifying object.” Early April brought news that the comet appeared to be struggling—maybe its own doom was at hand. Telescope owners expressed disappointment in the comet’s early appearance. An unnamed professor at Gonzaga University was underwhelmed. “This is but another illustration of the fact,” wrote Washington’s Spokesman Review, “that what was thought wonderful 75 years ago isn’t worth noticing in these days of aeroplanes and barefoot dancing.”28

Why was the comet, whose curved tail once blazed like an Islamic scimitar across the evening skies, so subdued? Professor Edward Barnard of the Yerkes Observatory had a theory: the comet was disintegrating. “The comet may surprise us by unexpected developments in the next two weeks,” claimed the astronomer. “The observations which have been made up to date show that it is diminishing in substance and luminosity. It probably was a great comet when it shone down on the boats of William the Conqueror as they crossed the English Channel, but since then it has been losing power.”29

The sun, continued Professor Barnard, eroded the comet’s tail, causing it to lose mass and altering its appearance. Ultimately, all of the gaseous material would be forced out of the comet’s head, and only a collection of dense meteors would remain. “These meteors,” said the professor, “are supposed to be the solid nucleus of the comet. Some persons would seem to think that nothing would happen if the nucleus of the comet struck the earth. I am of the opinion that a good deal would happen if a body of meteors as hard as iron should collide with this planet.”30 Fortunately, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, concluded Barnard; Halley’s nucleus would miss the planet by millions of miles.

Indiana astronomer Willis Barnes disagreed with Professor Barnard’s bleak prognosis. The former state senator and “expert on double stars” expected that Halley’s Comet would fool Barnard and the rest of the scientists. The comet, he opined, was going to be much brighter than the scientific community expected. In just a matter of days, earth’s residents would be treated to a fabulous sight, the great comet blazing in the east in the minutes before sunrise.

In fact, argued Barnes, the comet was gaining strength. Although many astronomers embraced the wasting comet model, they failed to consider what happened during the comet’s long travels through the dark regions of the outer solar system. The comet acted like an interstellar vacuum cleaner, its gravity sucking up space debris: “Meteors and nebulous bodies,” said Barnes, “are constantly passing over the orbit of the comet, like fishes swimming in the sea.”31 If the comet successfully netted fresh material as it passed through these rich swarms, then it would burn brightly. The luminosity of the comet depended on how much stardust it had hoovered up during its seventy-five-year absence.

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