Page:A short history of astronomy(1898).djvu/479

§§ 303, 304] prominences have been explained in a variety of different ways as joint results of solar disturbances of various kinds; but no detailed theory that has been given explains satisfactorily more than a fraction of the observed facts or commands more than a very limited amount of assent among astronomical experts.

304. More than 200 comets have been seen during the present century; not only have the motions of most of them been observed and their orbits computed (§ 291), but in a large number of cases the appearance and structure of the comet have been carefully observed telescopically, while latterly spectrum analysis and photography have also been employed.

Independent lines of inquiry point to the extremely unsubstantial character of a comet, with the possible exception of the bright central part or nucleus, which is nearly always present. More than once, as in 1767 (chapter, § 248), a comet has passed close to some member of the solar system, and has never been ascertained to affect its motion. The mass of a comet is therefore very small, but its bulk or volume, on the other hand, is in general very great, the tail often being millions of miles in length; so that the density must be extremely small. Again, stars have often been observed shining through a comet's tail (as shewn in fig. 99), and even through the head at no great distance from the nucleus, their brightness being only slightly, if at all, affected. Twice at least (1819, 1861) the earth has passed through a comet's tail, but we were so little affected that the fact was only discovered by calculations made after the event. The early observation (chapter, § 69) that a comet's tail points away from the sun has been abundantly verified; and from this it follows that very rapid changes in the position of the tail must occur in some cases. For example, the comet of 1843 passed very close to the sun at such a rate that in about two hours it had passed from one side of the sun to the opposite; it was then much too near the sun to be seen, but if it followed the ordinary law its tail, which was unusually long, must have entirely reversed its direction within this short time. It is difficult to avoid the inference that the tail is not a permanent part of the comet, but is a stream of matter driven off from it in some way by the action of the sun, and in this respect comparable with the smoke