"We have decided on a plan, Mr. Henderson and myself," said Mr.
Roumann. "The fact that so little is certainly known concerning
comets makes it difficult to know what to do. We might keep on
our course and come to no harm, merely pawing through a gaseous
mass which makes up the comet's tail. But there is a danger that
we might strike the solid head of it, for that the head is solid,
and of a glowing, fiery mass, which gives off a train of sparks,
is my belief. To collide with a fiery ball, larger than the sun,
would indeed be terrible. So we have decided to try to pass
through the less dense part the tail of the comet."
"Can't we steer to one side, or above or below the comet?" asked
Jack.
"Impossible," replied Mr. Roumann. "We have made some calculations,
and have ascertained that this is Donati's comet--the one of 1858--and
the head of it is two hundred and fifty thousand miles in diameter.
The tail is many millions of miles long, and as many thick. To pass
entirely beyond it would consume much time. In fact, we could not move
quickly enough to escape it, as we are now being attracted out of our
course toward the comet.
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