Lots of people are excited about comet ISON and the spectacular show it will hopefully provide. However, unlike most people throughout history, most of us do not regard it as an evil omen, an attack from an angry god, or fear it for any other reason. There’s a reason this. Science!
Aristotle thought that comets were atmospheric phenomena, related to meteors or other fiery objects. As in so many other areas, Aristotle’s view predominated until the scientific revolution, when Tycho Brahe demonstrated that comets were objects farther out than the moon. Edmond Halley showed that comets followed elliptical orbits around the sun, and Isaac Newton, as part of his theory on universal gravitation, showed that comets were subject to it, just like the planets. Today, we know that comets are actually “dirty snowballs” swinging in from the outer solar system, which the sun causes to heat up and release an atmosphere, which the solar wind streams out into a tail.
We know these things because of efforts of astronomers throughout the centuries. So, this Thanksgiving, when you’re listing things to be thankful for, you might want to include science, particularly astronomy, for the lack of fear you’re feeling as this comet passes by.
Related articles
- Comet ISON to Face Brutal Coronal Mass Ejection This Thanksgiving? (guardianlv.com)
- Comet ISON may be in trouble (cnn.com)
- T-MINUS 3 DAYS: Comet ISON’s Close Sun Encounter This Week Has Scientists Fired Up (endtimeheadlines.wordpress.com)
- Comet ISON to light up morning skies in the run-up to Christmas (theguardian.com)
- Comet ISON vs The Solar Storm! (alexautindotcom.wordpress.com)
- Comet ISON Latest: Nasa Releases Video Of ‘Comet Of The Century’ (huffingtonpost.co.uk)
- Ison and Encke (ufoau.wordpress.com)
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