fr:Hector Servadac - II - Chapitre IX
CHAPTER IX.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 had comparatively little interest for any one
but himself, and he was consequently 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 travel 16,500,000 leagues, attaining at the
end a distance of 197,000,000 leagues from the sun. This
would leave 81,000,000 leagues more to be traversed before
reaching the aphelion of the 15th of January, after which
it would begin once more to approach the sun.
But meanwhile, a marvellous world, never before so
close within the range of human vision, was revealing
itself. No wonder that Palmyrin Rosette cared so little
to quit his observatory; for throughout those calm, clear
Gallian nights, when the book of the firmament lay open
before him, he could revel in a spectacle which no previous
astronomer had ever been permitted to enjoy.
The glorious orb that was becoming so conspicuous
an object was none other than the planet Jupiter, the
largest of all the bodies existing within the influence of
solar attraction. During the seven months that had
elapsed since its collision with the earth, the comet had
been continuously approaching the planet, until the distance
between them was scarcely more than 61,000,000
leagues, and this would go on diminishing until the 15th
of October.
Under these circumstances, was it perfectly certain that
no danger could accrue? Was not Gallia, when its pathway
led it into such close proximity to this enormous
planet, running a risk of being attracted within its influence? Might not that influence be altogether disastrous? The professor, it is true, in his estimate of the duration of his comet's revolution, had represented that he had made all proper allowances for any perturbations that would be caused either by Jupiter, by Saturn, or by Mars; but what if there were any errors in his calculations? what if there should be any elements of disturbance on which he had not reckoned?
Speculations of this kind became more and more frequent, and Lieutenant Procope pointed out that the danger incurred might be of a fourfold character: first, that the comet, being irresistibly attracted, might be drawn on to the very surface of the planet, and there annihilated; secondly, that as the result of being brought under that attraction, it might be transformed into a satellite, or rather a sub-satellite, of that mighty world; thirdly, that it might be diverted into a new orbit, which would never be coincident with the ecliptic; or, lastly, its course might be so retarded that it would only reach the ecliptic too late to permit any junction with the earth. The occurrence of any one of these contingencies would be fatal to their hopes of re-union with the globe, from which they had been so strangely severed.
To Rosette, who, without family ties (which he had
never found leisure or inclination to contract), had no
shadow of desire to return to the earth, it would be only
the first of these probabilities that could give him any
concern. Total annihilation might not accord with his
views, but he would be quite content for Gallia to miss
its mark with regard to the earth, indifferent whether
it revolved as a new satellite around Jupiter, or whether it
wended its course through the untraversed regions of the
Milky Way.
The rest of the community, however, by no means
sympathized with the professor's sentiments, and the
following month was a period of considerable doubt and
anxiety.
On the 1st of September the distance between Gallia
and Jupiter was precisely 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. The planet
began to assume enormous dimensions, and it almost
seemed as if the comet had already been deflected from
its elliptical orbit, and was rushing on in a straight line
towards the overwhelming luminary.