Celestial Visitors
CELESTIAL VISITORS NGLISH papers inform us of the arrival at Aber deen, per ship (not its usual rapid method of transit) of a meteorite weighing no less than seven tons, which will probably...
...Many persons will remember that the late Lord Kelvin, trying to account for the existence of life on this planet, suggested that spores might have been brought from other planets by meteorites, thus merely pushing back the difficulty of the origin of life to another planet...
...For shooting stars are simply small meteorites which on entering our atmosphere become white hot by friction and are dissipated in dust, some of which probably falls on our planet...
...were blown into space by some terrific volcanic effort in ages remote beyond calculation...
...According to the observations and calculations made by the late very distinguished astronomer, Sir Robert Ball, all these things were once part of our earth...
...Their make-up is similar to that of the earth...
...The general thing is for the larger meteorite to burst into fragments with a loud explosion when it enters that part of our atmosphere—very rarefied at that range-— about fifty miles from the surface of the earth...
...Two French observers have recently claimed to have actually discovered such germs on meteorites, but their observations will require much confirmation before they can be credited...
...Many have thought that the intense cold of outer space (in the neighborhood of 273 degrees below zero) the intense heat as the meteorite hurtled through our atmosphere...
...There are occasional instances, however...
...and are, therefore, only coming home again...
...Of course many smaller fragments of celestial matter reach the surface of the earth, and it is said by astronomers that 2,000,000 fragments large enough to be seen as shooting stars enter our atmosphere every day...
...Nebulium is the one extra element which is not known on earth...
...The wonder is that it is so seldom that they hit anything living or even any structure...
...The largest fragment of this kind which is known to have fallen in England is a specimen from Bridlington in the collection mentioned above which weighs fifty-six pounds...
...No one saw these fall, but there is no reasonable doubt that they were meteorites...
...It is, of course, now known to exist as a natural gas, and as it is only a little heavier than hydrogen and possesses the invaluable quality of being non-inflammable, it is employed for inflating dirigible airships...
...But then it must be remembered that when helium was first discovered in the sun, and named after it, it was equally unknown on earth...
...CELESTIAL VISITORS NGLISH papers inform us of the arrival at Aberdeen, per ship (not its usual rapid method of transit) of a meteorite weighing no less than seven tons, which will probably be added to a collection of over five hundred such specimens in the South Kensington Museum...
...If Ball was right and no meteorites ever come from other planets, but all originally belonged to this earth, it would mean that for untold ages they had carried about germs once belonging to this earth and originating on it at a time when no existence was at all likely...
...and the ultra-violet rays of the stars, would between them have destroyed any such life germs...
...It was found in Greenland, and incidentally one may pay a tribute to Providence for its forbearance in directing this monstrous missile upon the one section of the world where its arrival would be likely to do least damage...
...In 1912, Lloyd's signaling station at Finisterre was wrecked by a meteorite and there is a story that one once fell between two carters talking to one another on the road near Chansonville without injuring either...
...that is, they have no new elements in them, being as a rule largely composed of nickeliron, as are all the bodies in the universe with which we are acquainted...
...It seems a very improbable tale...
...Naturally meteorites of this size coming from a great distance and with tremendous impetus are capable of doing immense damage...
...The newly found example is not the largest known to exist...
...The largest actually seen to fall was one of about a quarter of a ton, in Hungary...
...Mexico records one of fifty tons, and the late Commander Peary brought one, also from Greenland, which weighed thirty-six and one-half tons...
Vol. 3 • December 1925 • No. 4
