Chapter 28 Chapter 4 Returning Hopeful

"Gallia is my comet!" These were the last words Professor Rosset said to everyone.Then he frowned and looked around.It seems that some people doubt it.He might also be wondering to himself how these uninvited guests ended up on his comet. Captain Selvadak, Earl Ironmashev, and Second Officer Prokop stayed aside silently, lost in thought.After many twists and turns, they finally figured out the whole situation.The reader will recall that they put forward various hypotheses: first, according to the reversal of the east-west orientation, that the earth's rotation axis changed the direction of rotation; then that a part of the earth was thrown into the air; The reason why it left the earth was the result of the collision between the comet and the earth.

Now that the past is fully understood, everyone can see the current situation very clearly. What about the future?What will happen in the future?Does the eccentric astronomer know what to expect?Selvadak and others did not dare to ask questions rashly. Professor Palmieri Rosset sat precariously in his armchair, as if waiting to be introduced to him--to introduce these visitors to his comet. In order not to offend this overly sensitive and violent teacher, Selvadak stepped forward solemnly and pointed at Earl Ironmashev and said: "This is Earl Iron Marsh." "Welcome to my planet as a guest, Monsieur Earl." Palmier Rosette said, with the attitude of a master.

"Professor," said the count, "I have come to your comet quite against my will, but I owe you all the same for your hospitality." Servadac thought this sentence was very humorous.He couldn't help but smiled, and continued to introduce to Rosset: "This is Prokop, second mate of the brig Dobrina in which we sailed around the Sea of ​​Galia." "Traveling around the Sea of ​​Galia?" the professor exclaimed in surprise. "Yes, out and about." Captain Servadac replied, and then went on to introduce: "This is Ben-Zoff, my servant..."

"Governor Galia's adjutant." Ben-Zov hurriedly interjected, wanting to emphasize to the professor the status of the captain and himself here. Afterwards, Servadac introduced the Russian sailors, the Spaniards, Pablo Jr. and Nina Jr. to the professor one by one. At this time, Isaac Hackhabt stepped forward and said: "Professor, I want to ask one question, only one question. I think this question is extremely important... When can we go back?..." "Hey!" said the professor, "why do you want to go back now? We've only just started." After the introduction, Servadac asked Rosset to talk about his experience.

Rosset readily agreed, and briefly talked about the ins and outs of his visit to the comet this time. The French government decided to check the meridian where Paris was located, and formed a committee of scientists.Palman Rosette was not hired because of his withdrawn personality.He was so angry that he decided to go it alone.Arago and Billot had carefully measured the longitude of the great triangle from Paris to the coast of Spain to the island of Fumentera.Rosset thought that some of their measurements were not accurate enough, so he decided to re-measure the triangle. He then left Paris and came to the Balearic Islands.He built an observation station on the highest point of Formanda Island, and stayed in this inaccessible place with his servant Joseph.He also hired an assistant to let him choose a highest point on the coast of Spain, 160 kilometers away, and install a beacon so that the observatory on the island of Vermentera can be seen with a telescope.All he had in his luggage were a few books, a few observation instruments, and food that could last for two months.In addition, there is an astronomical telescope that he cannot do without at all times.The former physics teacher at Charlemagne Secondary School has a natural penchant for exploring space, and daydreams day and night to discover a certain planet and make his name in history.

Rosset's work required great patience.Every night he spent a long time looking at the lanterns his assistants had lit on the coast of Spain in order to determine the highest point of this great triangle.Of course he would not forget that it took Arago and Pior sixty-one days to complete this work.Sadly, these days, not only Europe but the entire planet is surrounded by a thick cloud, preventing him from working. But after a few days, the dark clouds over the Balearic sky suddenly dispersed, and the sky was clear all day long, which really surprised Professor Rosset.Because he was revising the astronomical chart of this part of the sky where Gemini is located during this period, and now he can use this opportunity to complete this work.

If you look at the Gemini constellation with the naked eye, you can see at most six stars.But if you use a 27cm astronomical telescope, you can see more than 6,000.Unfortunately, Palman Rosette now only has an ordinary astronomical telescope. One day, he was observing the unfathomable space, and suddenly found a bright light spot in the Gemini constellation, which had never been marked on the astronomical map.This is clearly a new star.He observed for several nights in a row and found that the speed of the star was very fast.Could it be an asteroid that has not been discovered yet? Could it be that his lucky star is shining, and there should be some amazing discoveries?

He forgot to sleep and eat, and continued to observe.He believes that the speed of this celestial body is so fast, it is likely to be a comet.Soon after, his idea was further confirmed.Because the cloud-like brilliance can be seen very clearly.Then, when the celestial body was only 120 million kilometers away from the sun, comets also began to appear. At this time, the work of measuring the triangle area has been thrown out of the sky by him.Needless to say, his dedicated assistant was still lighting the lantern as usual every day, but Rosset had no mood to ask.What he has in his heart is now only this comet.He resolved to study it carefully.If the bountiful comet turns out to be new, he plans to name it.For him, apart from this star, everything in the world no longer exists.

When observing comets, people always first assume that it has a hyperbolic orbit.This is the best way to observe.Because generally speaking, comets always appear near their perihelion, with the sun as a focal point of their orbit.When both the elliptical orbit and the hyperbolic orbit have the sun as their common focus, the difference of their orbital arcs near the sun is very insignificant.A hyperbolic orbit is actually an elliptical orbit, but its central axis varies infinitely. It was therefore quite plausible for Palmieri Rosset to postulate that the comet's orbit is hyperbolic. To determine a circle, three points on the circumference must be known.Likewise, to determine the orbit of a comet, three different locations must be observed.In this way, people can determine the orbit of the comet in space, and thus draw up the so-called "ephemeris".

Rosset was not content to observe just three locations.Because the sky was unexpectedly clear and clear, he recorded ten, twenty, and thirty different positions of the comet, including both right ascension and declination, thus clarifying the five points of the comet very accurately : 1) Regarding the angle between the comet’s orbital plane and the ecliptic plane, that is, the earth’s orbital plane.Generally speaking, this included angle is very large, so that the possibility of the comet colliding with the earth is greatly reduced.But now it is not the case, the two planes are superimposed on each other.

2) Determine the ascending node of the comet, which is the ecliptic longitude of the comet and the intersection point of the orbit of the comet and the earth. Grasping the above two points, the position of the comet's orbital plane in space is determined. 3) By measuring the right ascension of the comet's perihelion, the direction of the central axis of the comet's orbit is found.In this way, Palmier Roset also roughly grasped the hyperbolic orbit of the comet. 4) Find out the perihelion of the comet, that is, the shortest distance between the comet and the sun when it passes by the sun, and thus accurately grasp all the hyperbolic orbits of the comet, because the comet is undoubtedly orbiting the sun now. 5) It is clear that the direction of the comet's movement is retrograde, that is, it moves from east to west. After clarification of the above five points, Palman Rosette began to calculate when the comet would pass its perihelion.Since the comet had not yet been discovered, he wanted to name it after himself, but hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to call it "Galia's Comet".Afterwards, he enthusiastically began to draft an academic report. One must ask whether Professor Rosset has seen that Gallia may collide with the earth. Of course I saw it.But it's not a question of possible or impossible, it has to collide with the Earth. After Rosset came to this conclusion, his inner joy reached the point of madness, which cannot be described in words.Yes!The comet will collide with the earth at night from December 31st to January 1st. The consequences will be dire, and the direction of movement of the two celestial bodies will be completely reversed. Had it been any other person, he would have been in such a panic that he would have left Formentera at once.But Rosset is not the case, he still sticks to his post.At the same time, he did not disclose his findings to the outside world.The newspapers said that the clouds over Europe and Africa made it impossible to observe space, and he concluded that, because of the clear skies in the Balearics, he alone had the privilege of discovering the comet. And so it is.Everywhere is very calm, otherwise if the people had known that the disaster was imminent, they would have already panicked. The reason why Professor Rosset decided to stay on Vermentera was because, according to his observation, the comet was about to hit the southern part of Algeria.Since this is a comet with a hard nucleus, he would like to see "what it is like when a comet collides with the earth". Everyone knows the consequences of being blocked.With the violent shock, Rosette suddenly separated from his servant Joseph.He passed out.When I woke up, I found myself alone on a small island, which is what remains of the Balearic Islands. That was the whole story of his journey to the comet.Finally, he said: "Since then, great changes have taken place between the heaven and the earth: the orientation of the east and west has been reversed, the gravity has been greatly reduced, etc. But gentlemen, I don't think I'm still on the earth like you do. No! The earth is still with the moon as usual Orbiting in space, not deviating from base orbit due to collision. The comet just brushed past the surface, taking away a few small pieces that you have already seen. So the effect is unexpectedly ideal, and there is no need to make a fuss about it .If the comet did not pass by the surface of the earth but directly collided with the earth, then we would have passed away long ago. Of course, the comet may also stay on the earth. In this case, we would not be in such a lucky place in the solar system. swim." Rosset was so satisfied with the consequences of the collision.No one dared to raise a different opinion.Only Ben-Zoff took the liberty to say: "If the comet had hit the Montmartre Heights instead of Algeria, the Heights would have been able to withstand it." "Montmartre!" exclaimed Rosette, "that's just a small bag of earth, which the comet will not shatter when it hits it!" "Little dirtbag!" Ben Yizoff also called out.The professor's words stung him severely. Chiktor Selvadak hurried out to make a rescue, and stopped Ben Yizov sharply.The orderly who told the professor he had a special preference for his hometown of Montmartre. Ben-Zoff had no choice but to say no more, but he could never forgive Rosset for his contempt for his beloved hometown. All that matters is the future of Comet Galia.What kind of orbit is it running in space now?How long does it take to orbit the sun once?Second Officer Prokop carefully raised these two questions to Professor Rosset.I saw the professor replied: "Sir, the orbit of my comet has been calculated before this collision. But it will be recalculated after the collision." "Why, Mr. Professor?" Prokop asked puzzled. "Because, although the orbit of the earth remains the same, the orbit of Gallia is not." "Has Galia's orbit been altered by the collision?" "Yes. My original measurement was very accurate, and I had to recalculate it later." "So you've figured out the new orbit?" Prokop's second mate asked eagerly. "Yes." The professor replied without hesitation. "Then you must know..." "Sir, what I know is this: Gallia collided with Earth at its ascending node on January 1st of this year at 2:47:35 and 3/5 seconds; Orbit, arrived at perihelion on January 15. Then it crossed the Venus orbit again and crossed the descending node on February 1. It passed through the orbit of Mars on February 13, entered the asteroid area on March 10, and captured Nerina As my own satellite..." Rosset's remarks had nothing to do with Gallia's future.He seems to be deliberately dodging the question.The second officer of Prokop was about to bring it up again, but Servadac felt that he was too eager to ask this weird old man, so he changed the subject and asked the professor: "Teacher, tell us why we haven't been greatly shaken by such a big collision?" "It's so easy." "Do you think that the earth's collision with the comet this time, except for a few places being taken away by the comet, did not suffer much loss, especially its rotation was not affected in any way?" "I do see it that way, Captain Servadac," said Rosset, "and my reasoning is as follows: the speed of the earth was 115,200 kilometers an hour, and the speed of the comet was 20 kilometers an hour. Twenty-eight thousand kilometers. This is like a train hitting an obstacle at a speed of 344,000 kilometers per hour. You can imagine the result of the collision. This comet has an extremely hard nucleus , it struck the earth like a bullet fired at close quarters at a pane of glass: the comet passed through the earth without causing any damage to the earth." "That's right," said Sevadak, "that's probably what happened..." "It must be so," said Rosette decisively, "because Galia passed through the surface of the earth obliquely. On the contrary, if it hit directly, it would probably hang very deep, and the consequences would be severe. Unbelievable." Faced with these undeniable facts, Isaac Hackhabt could not help disbelieving.He walked up to Professor Rosset and asked worriedly: "Professor, can we go back to Earth? If we can go back, when will we be able to go back?" "Sir." Prokop interrupted at this moment, "I would like to clarify the question Isaac raised just now from a scientific point of view." "Please tell me!" "You said Gallia's hyperbolic orbit has changed." "yes." "Is its current orbit a parabola? Because if it is a parabola, Gallia will have gone to the extremely distant space, and we will never have any hope of returning to Earth." "No, not a parabola," said Rosset. "So Gallia is now in an elliptical orbit?" "right." "Does its orbital plane still overlap the Earth's orbital plane?" "yes." "So it has become a periodic comet?" "Yes. And it's a short-period comet. If the gravitational effects of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars are included, it will take two full years to circle the sun." "Then two years from now," Prokop exclaimed excitedly, "will it meet the Earth again in its original place?" "Yes, sir. But it's a great disappointment." "Why?" Captain Servadak asked in surprise. "Gentlemen," said Palmillian Rosette, stamping his foot, "are we not well here? Gallia should never go back, in my opinion."