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Updated: June 28, 2025
Of course it may be said of every planet having an elliptical orbit that between aphelion and perihelion it is falling toward the sun, but no other planet than Mercury travels in an orbit sufficiently eccentric, and approaches sufficiently near to the sun, to give to the mind so vivid an impression of an actual, stupendous fall!
The curve was divided into twenty-four sections of unequal length, representing respectively the distance described in the twenty-four months of the Gallian year, the twelve former divisions, according to Kepler's law, gradually diminishing in length as they approached the point denoting the aphelion and increasing as they neared the perihelion.
Hundreds of meteorites, ignited by the friction of the atmosphere, irradiated the shadow of the luminous train, and lined the cloudy parts of the disc with their fire. At this period the earth was in its perihelion, and the month of December is so propitious to these shooting stars, that astronomers have counted as many as twenty-four thousand in an hour.
Accordingly when we are comparing two observations made under different circumstances we have to ask 'Do the two observers mean the same thing by space and the same thing by time? The modern theory of relativity has arisen because certain perplexities as to the concordance of certain delicate observations such as the motion of the earth through the ether, the perihelion of mercury, and the positions of the stars in the neighbourhood of the sun, have been solved by reference to this purely relative significance of space and time.
Without noticing the interruption, Servadac continued his own remarks, "The comet then, I see, is to reach its aphelion on the 15th of January, exactly a twelvemonth after passing its perihelion." "A twelvemonth! Not a Gallian twelvemonth?" exclaimed Rosette. Servadac looked bewildered. Lieutenant Procope could not suppress a smile.
Therefore, between the extreme cold of the aphelion and the excessive heat of the perihelion, by the great law of compensation, it is probable that the mean temperature would be tolerably endurable." "At how many degrees is the temperature of the interplanetary space estimated?" asked M'Nicholl.
The second of these bodies to affect a looked-for return was a comet the sixteenth within ten years discovered by Pons, July 20, 1812, and found by Encke to revolve in an elliptic orbit, with a period of nearly 71 years. It was not, however, until September 1, 1883, that Mr. Brooks caught its reappearance; it passed perihelion January 25, and was last seen June 2, 1884.
When in aphelion, or at its greatest distance, Eros is outside of the orbit of Mars, but when in perihelion it is so much inside of Mars's orbit that it comes surprisingly near the earth. Indeed, there are times when Eros is nearer to the earth than any other celestial body ever gets except the moon and, it might be added, except meteors and, by chance, a comet, or a comet's tail.
A few miles beyond that, even the powerful little snapper-boat would be caught. Below, the timer reached zero. A mighty fan of fire shot into space. The asteroid shuddered from the blast, then swerved gradually, picking up speed as well as new direction. Rip swallowed hard. Now they were committed. They would reach a new perihelion far beyond the limits of safety. P for perihelion and P for peril.
The appendage, however, attained its full development only after perihelion, September 30, by which time, too, it lay nearly square to the line of sight from the earth. On October 10 it stretched in a magnificent scimitar-like curve over a third and upwards of the visible hemisphere, representing a real extension in space of fifty-four million miles.
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