Off on a Comet! a Journey through Planetary Space

by Jules Verne

  CHAPTER VIII. JUPITER SOMEWHAT CLOSE

  Except as to the time the comet would take to revolve round the sun,it must be confessed that all the professor's calculations hadcomparatively little interest for anyone but himself, and he wasconsequently left very much to pursue his studies in solitude.

  The following day was the 1st of August, or, according to Rosette,the 63rd of April. In the course of this month Gallia would travel16,500,000 leagues, attaining at the end a distance of 197,000,000leagues from the sun. This would leave 81,000,000 leagues more to betraversed before reaching the aphelion of the 15th of January, afterwhich it would begin once more to approach the sun.

  But meanwhile, a marvelous world, never before so close within the rangeof human vision, was revealing itself. No wonder that Palmyrin Rosettecared so little to quit his observatory; for throughout those calm,clear Gallian nights, when the book of the firmament lay open beforehim, he could revel in a spectacle which no previous astronomer had everbeen permitted to enjoy.

  The glorious orb that was becoming so conspicuous an object was noneother than the planet Jupiter, the largest of all the bodies existingwithin the influence of solar attraction. During the seven months thathad elapsed since its collision with the earth, the comet had beencontinuously approaching the planet, until the distance between them wasscarcely more than 61,000,000 leagues, and this would go on diminishinguntil the 15th of October.

  Under these circumstances, was it perfectly certain that no dangercould accrue? Was not Gallia, when its pathway led it into such closeproximity to this enormous planet, running a risk of being attractedwithin its influence? Might not that influence be altogether disastrous?The professor, it is true, in his estimate of the duration of hiscomet's revolution, had represented that he had made all properallowances for any perturbations that would be caused either byJupiter, by Saturn, or by Mars; but what if there were any errors inhis calculations? what if there should be any elements of disturbance onwhich he had not reckoned?

  Speculations of this kind became more and more frequent, and LieutenantProcope pointed out that the danger incurred might be of a fourfoldcharacter: first, that the comet, being irresistibly attracted, mightbe drawn on to the very surface of the planet, and there annihilated;secondly, that as the result of being brought under that attraction, itmight be transformed into a satellite, or even a sub-satellite, of thatmighty world; thirdly, that it might be diverted into a new orbit, whichwould never be coincident with the ecliptic; or, lastly, its coursemight be so retarded that it would only reach the ecliptic too late topermit any junction with the earth. The occurrence of any one of thesecontingencies would be fatal to their hopes of reunion with the globe,from which they had been so strangely severed.

  To Rosette, who, without family ties which he had never found leisure orinclination to contract, had no shadow of desire to return to the earth,it would be only the first of these probabilities that could give himany concern. Total annihilation might not accord with his views, but hewould be quite content for Gallia to miss its mark with regard tothe earth, indifferent whether it revolved as a new satellite aroundJupiter, or whether it wended its course through the untraversed regionsof the milky way. The rest of the community, however, by no meanssympathized with the professor's sentiments, and the following month wasa period of considerable doubt and anxiety.

  On the 1st of September the distance between Gallia and Jupiter wasprecisely the same as the mean distance between the earth and the sun;on the 16th, the distance was further reduced to 26,000,000 leagues. Theplanet began to assume enormous dimensions, and it almost seemed as ifthe comet had already been deflected from its elliptical orbit, and wasrushing on in a straight line towards the overwhelming luminary.

  The more they contemplated the character of this gigantic planet, themore they became impressed with the likelihood of a serious perturbationin their own course. The diameter of Jupiter is 85,390 miles, nearlyeleven times as great as that of the earth; his volume is 1,387 times,and his mass 300 times greater; and although the mean density is onlyabout a quarter of that of the earth, and only a third of that of water(whence it has been supposed that the superficies of Jupiter is liquid),yet his other proportions were large enough to warrant the apprehensionthat important disturbances might result from his proximity.

  "I forget my astronomy, lieutenant," said Servadac. "Tell me all you canabout this formidable neighbor."

  The lieutenant having refreshed his memory by reference to Flammarion's_Recits de l'Infini_, of which he had a Russian translation, and someother books, proceeded to recapitulate that Jupiter accomplishes hisrevolution round the sun in 4,332 days 14 hours and 2 minutes; that hetravels at the rate of 467 miles a minute along an orbit measuring 2,976millions of miles; and that his rotation on his axis occupies only 9hours and 55 minutes.

  "His days, then, are shorter than ours?" interrupted the captain.

  "Considerably," answered the lieutenant, who went on to describe how thedisplacement of a point at the equator of Jupiter was twenty-seven timesas rapid as on the earth, causing the polar compression to be about2,378 miles; how the axis, being nearly perpendicular, caused thedays and nights to be nearly of the same length, and the seasons to beinvariable; and how the amount of light and heat received by the planetis only a twenty-fifth part of that received by the earth, the averagedistance from the sun being 475,693,000 miles.

  "And how about these satellites? Sometimes, I suppose, Jupiter has thebenefit of four moons all shining at once?" asked Servadac.

  Of the satellites, Lieutenant Procope went on to say that one is rathersmaller than our own moon; that another moves round its primary at aninterval about equal to the moon's distance from ourselves; but thatthey all revolve in considerably less time: the first takes only l day18 hours 27 minutes; the second takes 3 days 13 hours 14 minutes; thethird, 7 days 3 hours 42 minutes; whilst the largest of all takes but 16days 16 hours 32 minutes. The most remote revolves round the planet at adistance of 1,192,820 miles.

  "They have been enlisted into the service of science," said Procope. "Itis by their movements that the velocity of light has been calculated;and they have been made available for the determination of terrestriallongitudes."

  "It must be a wonderful sight," said the captain.

  "Yes," answered Procope. "I often think Jupiter is like a prodigiousclock with four hands."

  "I only hope that we are not destined to make a fifth hand," answeredServadac.

  Such was the style of the conversation that was day by day reiteratedduring the whole month of suspense. Whatever topic might be started, itseemed soon to settle down upon the huge orb that was looming upon themwith such threatening aspect.

  "The more remote that these planets are from the sun," said Procope,"the more venerable and advanced in formation are they found to be.Neptune, situated 2,746,271,000 miles from the sun, issued from thesolar nebulosity, thousands of millions of centuries back. Uranus,revolving 1,753,851,000 miles from the center of the planetary system,is of an age amounting to many hundred millions of centuries. Jupiter,the colossal planet, gravitating at a distance of 475,693,000 miles,may be reckoned as 70,000,000 centuries old. Mars has existed for1,000,000,000 years at a distance of 139,212,000 miles. The earth,91,430,000 miles from the sun, quitted his burning bosom 100,000,000years ago. Venus, revolving now 66,131,000 miles away, may be assignedthe age of 50,000,000 years at least; and Mercury, nearest of all, andyoungest of all, has been revolving at a distance of 35,393,000 milesfor the space of 10,000,000 years--the same time as the moon has beenevolved from the earth."

  Servadac listened attentively. He was at a loss what to say; and theonly reply he made to the recital of this novel theory was to the effectthat, if it were true, he would prefer being captured by Mercury thanby Jupiter, for Mercury, being so much the younger, would probably provethe less imperative and self-willed master.

  It was on the 1st of September that the comet had crossed the orbit ofJupiter, and on the 1st of October th
e two bodies were calculated tobe at their minimum separation. No direct shock, however, could beapprehended; the demonstration was sufficiently complete that the orbitof Gallia did not coincide with that of the planet, the orbit of Jupiterbeing inclined at an angle of 1 degrees 19 mins to the orbit of theearth, with which that of Gallia was, no doubt, coincident.

  As the month of September verged towards its close, Jupiter beganto wear an aspect that must have excited the admiration of the mostignorant or the most indifferent observer. Its salient points wereillumined with novel and radiant tints, and the solar rays, reflectedfrom its disc, glowed with a mingled softness and intensity upon Gallia,so that Nerina had to pale her beauty.

  Who could wonder that Rosette, enthusiast as he was, should beirremovable from his observatory? Who could expect otherwise than that,with the prospect before him of viewing the giant among planets, tentimes nearer than any mortal eye had ever done, he should have begrudgedevery moment that distracted his attention?

  Meanwhile, as Jupiter grew large, the sun grew small.

  From its increased remoteness the diameter of the sun's disc wasdiminished to 5 degrees 46 mins.

  And what an increased interest began to be associated with thesatellites! They were visible to the naked eye! Was it not a new recordin the annals of science?

  Although it is acknowledged that they are not ordinarily visible onearth without the aid of a somewhat powerful telescope, it has beenasserted that a favored few, endued with extraordinary powers of vision,have been able to identify them with an unassisted eye; but here,at least, in Nina's Hive were many rivals, for everyone could so fardistinguish them one from the other as to describe them by their colors.The first was of a dull white shade; the second was blue; the third waswhite and brilliant; the fourth was orange, at times approaching toa red. It was further observed that Jupiter itself was almost void ofscintillation.

  Rosette, in his absorbing interest for the glowing glories of theplanet, seemed to be beguiled into comparative forgetfulness of thecharms of his comet; but no astronomical enthusiasm of the professorcould quite allay the general apprehension that some serious collisionmight be impending.

  Time passed on. There was nothing to justify apprehension. The questionwas continually being asked, "What does the professor really think?"

  "Our friend the professor," said Servadac, "is not likely to tell usvery much; but we may feel pretty certain of one thing: he wouldn't keepus long in the dark, if he thought we were not going back to the earthagain. The greatest satisfaction he could have would be to inform usthat we had parted from the earth for ever."

  "I trust from my very soul," said the count, "that his prognosticationsare correct."

  "The more I see of him, and the more I listen to him," replied Servadac,"the more I become convinced that his calculations are based on a solidfoundation, and will prove correct to the minutest particular."

  Ben Zoof here interrupted the conversation. "I have something on mymind," he said.

  "Something on your mind? Out with it!" said the captain.

  "That telescope!" said the orderly; "it strikes me that that telescopewhich the old professor keeps pointed up at yonder big sun is bringingit down straight upon us."

  The captain laughed heartily.

  "Laugh, captain, if you like; but I feel disposed to break the oldtelescope into atoms."

  "Ben Zoof," said Servadac, his laughter exchanged for a look of sterndispleasure, "touch that telescope, and you shall swing for it!"

  The orderly looked astonished.

  "I am governor here," said Servadac.

  Ben Zoof knew what his master meant, and to him his master's wish waslaw.

  The interval between the comet and Jupiter was, by the 1st of October,reduced to 43,000,000 miles. The belts all parallel to Jupiter's equatorwere very distinct in their markings. Those immediately north andsouth of the equator were of a dusky hue; those toward the poles werealternately dark and light; the intervening spaces of the planet'ssuperficies, between edge and edge, being intensely bright. The beltsthemselves were occasionally broken by spots, which the records ofastronomy describe as varying both in form and in extent.

  The physiology of belts and spots alike was beyond the astronomer'spower to ascertain; and even if he should be destined once again to takehis place in an astronomical congress on the earth, he would be just asincapable as ever of determining whether or no they owed their existenceto the external accumulation of vapor, or to some internal agency. Itwould not be Professor Rosette's lot to enlighten his brother _savants_to any great degree as to the mysteries that are associated with this,which must ever rank as one of the most magnificent amongst the heavenlyorbs.

  As the comet approached the critical point of its career it cannot bedenied that there was an unacknowledged consciousness of alarm. Mutuallyreserved, though ever courteous, the count and the captain were secretlydrawn together by the prospect of a common danger; and as their returnto the earth appeared to them to become more and more dubious, theyabandoned their views of narrow isolation, and tried to embrace thewider philosophy that acknowledges the credibility of a habitableuniverse.

  But no philosophy could be proof against the common instincts of theirhumanity; their hearts, their hopes, were set upon their natural home;no speculation, no science, no experience, could induce them to give uptheir fond and sanguine anticipation that once again they were to comein contact with the earth.

  "Only let us escape Jupiter," said Lieutenant Procope, repeatedly, "andwe are free from anxiety."

  "But would not Saturn lie ahead?" asked Servadac and the count in onebreath.

  "No!" said Procope; "the orbit of Saturn is remote, and does not comeathwart our path. Jupiter is our sole hindrance. Of Jupiter we must say,as William Tell said, 'Once through the ominous pass and all is well.'"

  The 15th of October came, the date of the nearest approximation of thecomet to the planet. They were only 31,000,000 miles apart. What wouldnow transpire? Would Gallia be diverted from its proper way? or would ithold the course that the astronomer had predicted?

  Early next morning the captain ventured to take the count and thelieutenant up to the observatory. The professor was in the worst oftempers.

  That was enough. It was enough, without a word, to indicate the coursewhich events had taken. The comet was pursuing an unaltered way.

  The astronomer, correct in his prognostications, ought to have been themost proud and contented of philosophers; his pride and contentmentwere both overshadowed by the certainty that the career of his comet wasdestined to be so transient, and that it must inevitably once again comeinto collision with the earth.