Space Boy and his dog, Woofie, live far, far away. They live in the heavens, and their playground is space. When they are ready to play, they hop in their space ship and fly through their playground in the heavens. They circle planets, and count meteors. Space Boy and Woofie are good friends, and Woofie goes everywhere with Space Boy.
One day, Space Boy whistled for Woofie.
"Come boy! Come! As I looked out the window last evening, I saw a comet gliding through the heavens. We are going to go see that comet today! What strange and exciting space travelers comets are. Come, boy!"
Woofie wagged his tail and came at a run. He hopped into the space ship, and away they flew into the heavens.
As Space Boy projected his vision out...and out even further; his eyes suddenly focused on a bright and moving object. Unbelievably real, it was followed by a hazy tail, extending across the dark sky.
"Splendiforous", yelled Space Boy. "Splendiforous!"
Space people have the ability to store all they learn for many, many years, in their mind. And they have perfect recall. Space Boy's recall immediately began to produce facts. He began to explain to Woofie what a comet is, and how it comes to be.
"These strange phenomonon of the heavens have existed as far back as history can track, Woofie. Comets have zoomed over pyramids of long ago, and they lighted the skies over Stonehenge. History knows comets well."
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CHAPTER IIIWOOFIE LEARNS MORE ABOUT COMETS
"Woofie", said Space Boy, "this glowing object was formed from gases and finely divided dust particles that, over great periods of time, were spread throughout space. A comet is a heavenly body that circles the sun!"
Woofie's heart was pounding, and his eyes sparkled with excitement!
"Tell me more! Why does it glow, Space Boy? And when and how did it come to be?"
"Well", said Space Boy, "astronomers do not know when the first comet was sighted, or how long they have actually existed. Possibly from the beginning of time. The center is ice and dust, which is embedded in what astronomers call a COMA. The sun's glow on the comet illuminates the ice, amidst the dust in the COMA, and also illuminates the extremely long tail that follows behind. Astronomers sometimes call comets DIRTY SNOWBALLS, since there is dust mixed with the ice."
Woofie thought that was funny.
"The head of the comet, Woofie, including the hazy COMA, is very, very large. It can be larger in size than the planet of Jupiter! The mysterious tail, which is lit up only in the part of its obit when it passes closest to the sun, can be millions of kilometers long, and extend far into space."
Woofie looked puzzled.
"What is a kilometer?", he asked.
"One kilometer, Woofie, equals over half a mile. The tail of a comet can extend across the heavens over a million miles!"
Woofie blinked his eyes and said, "That is too long for me to even imagine!"
"Yes, Woofie, said Space Boy. Me too. Remember tho, there is no end to space. It goes on and on and on. A million miles is small, compared to the size of space."
"Listen to this, Woofie! Did you know a comet is made of mostly molecules, or bits of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen? When you combine these elements, you get a roaring and escaping jet action, not unlike that of our space ship. The gases push the center of the comet slightly away from its orbit, taking it off its original path."
"Wow! How do we know then, when it will return?", asked Woofie.
"We do not know when it will return, Woofie. When a comet will return remains a mystery."
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CHAPTER IVDANGERS OF THESE AGE OLD COMETS
Space Boy could see that Woofie was in deep thought, and he patted Woofie's head.
"Woofie, there is more to this mystery of the heavens. The orbit of comets has ranged from a little over 3 years to 2000 years! Can you even imagine so long a period of time to orbit! A very famous comet, they named Haleys Comet, was spotted near earth as early as 240 BC, and as late as 1986."
"How close do they come to earth, Space Boy?", asked Woofie.
"Well, they sometimes approach earth much too close for comfort. But, knowing the outcome if one of the huge travelers were to impact with earth, there have been government committees formed to study solutions. Astronomers watch the heavens very closely."
"I'm glad they are watching closely", said Woofie.
Space Boy looked at his watch. It was time to go home now. Woofie was hungry and sleepy. Space Boy waved farewell to the Space Traveler, and Woofie barked his farewell. As Space Boy turned his space ship toward home, he took one more long look at the comet. He knew the comet's purpose was beyond his understanding, created by God Almighty in the beginning of time.
CHAPTER VSPACE BOY AND WOOFIE GO HOME
Space Boy reached over and put his arm around Woofie, who was closing his eyes for a nap.
"Woofie, we have experienced a mystery today. The existence of this Space Traveler of the Heavens's will go on and on; possibly forever. Just think about that. What a wonderful day this has been."
In Space Boy's mind, he thought:
"HOW AWESOME ARE THE WAYS OF GOD. HOW GREAT AND MYSTERIOUS ARE HIS CREATIONS."____________
SPACE TRAVELER OF THE HEAVENS
THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS, WERE CREATED ON THE FOURTH DAY OF CREATION.
GENESIS 1:14
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmamentof the heaven to divide the day from the night;and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.
WOOFIE LEARNS MORE ABOUT COMETS
Woofie's heart was pounding, and his eyes sparkled with excitement!
"Tell me more! Why does it glow, Space Boy? And when and how did it come to be?"
"Well", said Space Boy, "astronomers do not know when the first comet was sighted, or how long they have actually existed. Possibly from the beginning of time. The center is ice and dust, which is embedded in what astronomers call a COMA. The sun's glow on the comet illuminates the ice, amidst the dust in the COMA, and also illuminates the extremely long tail that follows behind. Astronomers sometimes call comets DIRTY SNOWBALLS, since there is dust mixed with the ice."
Woofie thought that was funny.
Woofie looked puzzled.
"What is a kilometer?", he asked.
"One kilometer, Woofie, equals over half a mile. The tail of a comet can extend across the heavens over a million miles!"
Woofie blinked his eyes and said, "That is too long for me to even imagine!"
"Yes, Woofie, said Space Boy. Me too. Remember tho, there is no end to space. It goes on and on and on. A million miles is small, compared to the size of space."
"Listen to this, Woofie! Did you know a comet is made of mostly molecules, or bits of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen? When you combine these elements, you get a roaring and escaping jet action, not unlike that of our space ship. The gases push the center of the comet slightly away from its orbit, taking it off its original path."
"Wow! How do we know then, when it will return?", asked Woofie.
"We do not know when it will return, Woofie. When a comet will return remains a mystery."
"Woofie, there is more to this mystery of the heavens. The orbit of comets has ranged from a little over 3 years to 2000 years! Can you even imagine so long a period of time to orbit! A very famous comet, they named Haleys Comet, was spotted near earth as early as 240 BC, and as late as 1986."
"How close do they come to earth, Space Boy?", asked Woofie.
"Well, they sometimes approach earth much too close for comfort. But, knowing the outcome if one of the huge travelers were to impact with earth, there have been government committees formed to study solutions. Astronomers watch the heavens very closely."
"I'm glad they are watching closely", said Woofie.
Space Boy looked at his watch. It was time to go home now. Woofie was hungry and sleepy. Space Boy waved farewell to the Space Traveler, and Woofie barked his farewell. As Space Boy turned his space ship toward home, he took one more long look at the comet. He knew the comet's purpose was beyond his understanding, created by God Almighty in the beginning of time.
"Woofie, we have experienced a mystery today. The existence of this Space Traveler of the Heavens's will go on and on; possibly forever. Just think about that. What a wonderful day this has been."
In Space Boy's mind, he thought:
"Woofie", said Space Boy, "this glowing object was formed from gases and finely divided dust particles that, over great periods of time, were spread throughout space. A comet is a heavenly body that circles the sun!"
"The head of the comet, Woofie, including the hazy COMA, is very, very large. It can be larger in size than the planet of Jupiter! The mysterious tail, which is lit up only in the part of its obit when it passes closest to the sun, can be millions of kilometers long, and extend far into space."
Space Boy could see that Woofie was in deep thought, and he patted Woofie's head.
Space Boy reached over and put his arm around Woofie, who was closing his eyes for a nap.