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Comets

Comets image
Parent Issue
Day
29
Month
May
Year
1843
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

A writer nt Inverness. who disonases ihe subject of Streamers, is of opinión that the Earth is a Coinet and the aurora bore:ilis its tail. Newton mnintained the tails of comets to be vapor ascending by means of the muii's heat: oiher philociophers s.-iy they are produced by i lio action of the sun upon the atmosuherc of comets, or on the substance of comets themselves, or on the electric matter through which they p?ss. Id short, the sun is ihe principa! agent in their production, by acting on these bodics theinselve?. or on the atmosphere by which they are surroun(IimI. or the element through which they move. This is quite anningnus ío Mflfian'e heory ol aurora, in all esential particulars. Electricity has been supposed to be the principal agent in t!ie production bo!h of the aurora borealis and the tails of comets. The fixed stais, even of the s.naller magnitudes, are sec n throuprh both. Tlie tails of comets are observed generally to be a Hule concave townriís the sun. Foster's observation in the South Sea, and ihe appearances of the aurora now described, exhibit the same result. The tnils of comets are produced. or, lo speak more correctly, are seen, wlien these bodics approach thcir periheüon. The aurora are oxhibited whon the earth is in its pcrihelion. ffiat is in winter. The direction of ihe tails of comet3 are from the sun, so are the courses, generally. of the varying aurora. These is nothing exiravníiant in thesupposition that the aurora may be visible to an observer in Mars or Júpiter, as I an appendage or tail to the Earth. Would the j earth. then. when still nearer the sun, and ceeding with increaseJ vcloMty, be accompanied I by aurora boreaüs greatly incrensed in splendour, durafion and extrnt? On the hypothesis of Marian, il undoubtedly would, atid the converse of the problem is equally truc, that tlie aurora would disappear altogether when the earth j ceded from thc sun, and decrcased its vclocity. i In conclusión, the writer hints, tliat the varying belts of Jupiter and üw ñnss of Snturn may be broiiüht within the rahèe of these siieculations.

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News