Harbinger of Death?
Comet (NASA Photo)
Man has always found comets a bit scary. Other celestial
dwellers that early man observed - the sun, moon, planets and
stars - seemed to move and appear with predictable, if unexplainable,
patterns. Comets were different. They might suddenly materialize
without warning, expanding until their tails filled as much as
a quarter of the sky, then fade into the depth of space just as
It is little surprise then that the ancients attributed
such displays to the gods. While a comet's appearance occasionally
heralded positive events, like the birth of a king or success
in coming battle, more often it was taken as a bad omen of disaster.
The Fall of Jerusalem in 70 BC was "foretold" by a comet four
years before. In 79 AD the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius which
destroyed the city of Pompeii was attributed to a comet. In 1665
a comet preceded an outbreak of the Black Plague that killed almost
100,000 people in London. In 1835 a comet was blamed for such
widely diverse events as the fall of the Alamo, a major fire in
New Youk City and a massacre of 280 people in Africa.
Predicts a Comet Orbit
The understanding of what comets were and how they
worked received a boost when astronomer Edmund Halley used Isaac
Newton's recently formulated theories on the motion of bodies
and gravity to predict the course of a comet he observed in 1682.
He found that the object, unlike the planets which moved in near
perfect circles around the sun, was traveling on an elongated
orbit. Halley saw that this meant that the object would speed
up as it drew closer to the center of the solar system and slow
down at the farthest part of the orbit. He realized that a comet
would spend most of its time at the edge of the solar system and
only a brief time close to the center where it could be observed.
This explained why comets were not visible for many years and
why they suddenly appeared and disappeared.
With this information about the orbit, Halley was
able to surmise that the comet he had seen was the same one that
had been observed in 1531 and 1607. He went on to predict that
the comet would return in 1758. Halley did not live to see the
return of the comet, but it did come again according to his calculations
and because of that it now bears his name.
At last the behavior of a comet could be explained
and foretold. One might expect that with such information now
available the fear of comets would easily subside. This was not
to be the case. With the understanding of what comets were and
how they moved a new concern arose. Suppose a comet collided with
Earth? Or if there wasn't an actual collision could the pull of
gravity from a passing comet set off earthquakes, volcanoes and
The predicted return of Halley's Comet became one
of the first chances to fear a comet for scientific (or at least
pseudo-scientific) reasons. In 1773 a paper written by the French
mathematician Joseph de Lalande was misunderstood to predict a
collision of the comet with earth leading to panic. People were
so worried that unscrupulous clergy attempted to sell dispensations
that would supposedly get the buyers into heaven. By 1910, however,
astronomers were able to predict the path of the comet so accurately
that only a few people were distressed by the possibility of Halley's
comet hitting the planet. Now they feared its tail.
Halley takes an eliptical orbit around the sun that crosses
Earth's path twice.
Obviously the most spetacular feature of a comet
is its tail. In fact the word comet means "long-haired star."
Scientists had speculated about what created a comet's tail for
some time. Early theories pictured comets as balls of sand that
slowly lost some of their grains as they traveled along leaving
the tail. An analysis in 1950 by astronomer Fred Whipple, of Harvard
University, indicated that if that was the case, the mass of the
comet would quickly be depleted. Instead, Whipple suggested, comets
were essentially "dirty snowballs" consisting of ice mixed with
dust. When the comet was far from the sun, as it was for most
of its existence, the comet was inert. As it moved closer to the
sun, however, it warmed and the ice turned to gas (sometimes with
explosive force) releasing the dirt or dust. The "solar wind"
streaming out from the sun pushed the dust and gas in a single
direction, creating the tail. Because the amount of time the comet
is close to the sun is relatively small, not much of the total
mass is lost with each orbit. The tail, like the head of the comet,
does not shine itself, but reflects sunlight.
In 1910 astronomers didn't know how the tail worked,
but they did have an inkling of what it was composed. Thanks to
the 1908 appearance of Morehouse's Comet scientists Chicago's
Yerkes Observatory were able to analyze a comet's tail using the
new science of spectroscopy.With it they were able to detect the
presence of poisonous cyanogen gas in the tail. When two years
later astronomers calculated that the Earth would pass directly
through comet Halley's tail some people became concerned fearing
that the gas would saturate the Earth's atmosphere and kill every
Reaction to this perceived threat was predictable.
Many people panicked. Scientists tried to calm fears by showing
the amount of cyanogen gas in the tail to be so diffuse there
was no chance of it getting into the air and reaching anywhere
near the levels necessary to injure anyone. Less than honest entrepreneurs
tried to capitalize on the event by selling "Anti-Comet Pills"
at the rather high price of $1 per pill. Others offered gas masks
or "Comet Protecting Umbrellas." Some organizations printed leaflets
to the Inhabitants of the City
your windows and keep indoors for the Earth will soon pass
through the Tail of the terrible Comet and its poisonous
gases will fill the heavens!
Comet Halley in 1910.
While some people dreaded the poisonous cyanogen
gas, others feared that the tail of the comet would bring deadly
influenza. There were stories of farmers who were too busy preparing
for the end of the world to bother to plant crops. One paper from
Louisville reported that "Preparations for the end of the world
are being made today by the ignorant persons through central and
eastern parts of Kentucky." Near Memphis, Tennessee, there were
reports of people following a prophet who proclaimed that the
comet would destroy the world at noon on May the 18th. In Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, newspapers reported that the Rev. Abraham Lincoln
Johnson was holding revival meetings where his congregation was
"reduced to a paroxysm of fear" as the preacher pictured the destruction
the comet would bring. In Italy, farmers were blaming floods and
unseasonable weather that destroyed their crops on the celestial
Most responsible newspapers tried to quell people's
fears. An editorial in the Boston American for May 18th, 1910
our readers, Mr J.J. Sanders of Prescott, Arizona, refuses
to accept this newspaper's assurance that the comet won't
hurt anybody. He writes: "I may be wrong, but I do not think
so. I have warned our people to look for earthquakes on the
night of May 18." Others believe that if the comet doesn't
cause earthquakes it will cause diseases or fill our atmosphere
with deadly gas and kill us all off. None of these things
will happen. The comet will end its visit to our solar system
as it has done hundreds of thousands of times before in the
history of our young earth. Then it will go off, carrying
with it its tail, twenty to forty millions miles long, and
we shall get over our excitement.
Hoaxes and Fictions
Other newspapers added to the fear by running stories
that turned out to be hoaxes. The Oklahoma City Times ran a front
page story about an incident that supposedly happened the night
the comet passed:
Rescued from Death at Gory Stake
Okla., May 19. Jane Warfield, a pretty nineteen-year-old
farmer girl, living near here was rescued after a hand-to-hand
conflict between members of the sheriff of Alfalfa county
posse and Henry Heinman's religious fanatics Wednesday evening
just as the girl was about to be offered as a blood sacrifice
for the atonement of the world's sins in order that Halley's
comet might not destroy the earth. The girl, nude and partially
unconscious, was tied to a stake in the center of a dancing
group of the crazed followers of Heiman and within a few
minutes was to have been stabbed and bled to death. Heinman's
chief prophet was ready to perform the deed. It was known
in the community that the much-heralded approach of Halley's
Comet and the threatened danger attached to its appearance
had affected the fanatics and frequent meetings were being
held. All their secrets are closely guarded and it was not
until the girl was tied to the stake that the authorities
became aware of the intended sacrifice.
was immediately formed and preceding to the meeting ground
of the fanatics the girl was rescued and given medical attention.
Followers of Heinman attempted to fight the officers, but
they were overcome with little difficulty. Heinman was arrested
and placed in the county jail. Heinman instigated the act
by telling his companions that the comet meant the end of
the world and the sacrifice was necessary for their atonement.
As far as any modern researcher can conclude, the
above story and a similar one run in the Washington Post was totally
fabricated, though widely believed by the public at the time.
Rag sheet music.
The idea that the planet could be plunged into a
zone of death that would kill everything on it also inspired writers.
Two years after the comet, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published his
tale, The Poison Belt about a band of explorers who manage
to survive while the rest of the Earth's population perishes when
the planet passes through a deadly region in space. As recently
as 1984, the film, Night of Comet, depicted two high school
girls surviving the visit of a comet that turns all other human
life to red dust or cannibalistic zombies.
Not everybody treated the 1910 arrival of comet
Halley with fear, however. Much of the memorabilia from that year
features the comet in a whimsical or mocking way. Two popular
song sheets sold at the time were "A Trip to the Moon" (as a way
of avoiding being on Earth when the comet passed) and "Halley's
Comet Rag." Cartoons, greeting cards and products from that era
display the comet prominently. Many people heralded the arrival
of the comet with celebrations and "comet" parties that were abundant
both in the United States and Europe. As the writer in the Boston
American had predicted, the comet passed without incident and
world soon got over its excitement.
One might have expected after the 1910 passage caused
no problems predictions that comets would cause massive destruction
might have abated. This was not the case. In 1996, comet Hyakutake
and in 1997, comet Hale-Bopp both were rumored to be "doomsday"
comets. Both passed by the Earth without hitting it or even causing
any of the predicted earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. There
was a sad footnote to the passage of Hale-Bopp, however, as 39
members of a religious cult committed suicide, apparently believing
they would be taken aboard a UFO hiding behind the comet.
Even though we know of no comet that has ever injured
a human being, they do pose a threat to life on Earth. There remains
a small chance that a comet could collide with the planet causing
widespread destruction. In 1908, something exploded above Siberia
with the force of an H-bomb. Though most recent theories point
to a stony meteorite, some scientists have speculated that the
object was a comet. Whatever it was, if it had hit three hours
earlier, the explosion would have destroyed the city of Moscow
with all its inhabitants. While the exact cause of the Siberian
blast is still under debate, nobody doubts that a large comet
would be capable of creating a similar disaster. In 1994, the
remains of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which had split up into several
pieces, collided with the planet Jupiter. The fireballs and disruptions
to the planet's atmosphere were easily visible to Earth's telescopes
millions of miles away.
Still, as much as there is a small chance that comets
might create destruction on Earth, they may have made life possible,
too. Early in the Earth's history, scientists think collisions
with comets deposited a significant amount of water on the planet,
helping to form our oceans. Comets may have also contributed organic
material necessary for life. Without these we might not be here
today to observe comets, whether we choose to fear their destructive
power, or celebrate their beauty.
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Krystek 1997-2008. All Rights Reserved.
A Partial Bibliography
Comets: Creators and Destroyers, by David H. Levy, Touchstone:
Simon & Shuster Inc., 1998.
Rocks From Space, by O. Richard Norton, Mountain Press
Halley's Comet: Memories of 1910, by Roberta Etter and
Stuart Schneider, Abbeville Press, 1985
The Virgin and the Comet, by Guy W. Moore, Halley's Comet
Watch Newsletter, http://www.geocities.com/athens/olympus/6745/VirginandcometI