Astronomer Whipple Dead At Age 97

cwaldrip writes "Reuters reports 'Fred Whipple, an astronomer who originated the idea that comets were comprised of ice and mineral dust, has died at the age of 97.' Comets being dirty ice is so accepted today, it's hard to think of alternatives other than solid rock. What alternate theories of cometary composition have there been?"

Comments

Historical Theories of Hairy Stars (Comets)

[Craig Milo Rogers]

In Roman times, one theory was that comets were (or contained) the souls of dead people, rising to heaven. Not just any old dead person, of course, but important people, such as Roman emperors, on their way to become gods. Or, perhaps a comet might carry a soul *from* heaven to earth: consider the star of Bethlehem, now believed to be a comet, in one prominent religion.

Another theory, related to that same religion, is that a comet is what an angel looks like from a distance.

In Greek times, comets were thought to be a phenomenon of gases in the atmosphere, much like meteors (the word "meteor" derives from "high in the air").

The word "comet" derives from "coma", meaning hair: a hairy star. (The modern English usage for "coma" came about because the continuing growth of hair was observed to be one of the few obvious changes in a person in a coma.) Early observers might not have known what the hair came from, but it (a comet's tail) was clearly hair of some form.

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/comets.html
http://www.eso.org/outreach/info-events/hale-bopp/ comet-history-1.html

Was he the inventor of the Whipple Bumper as well

[LWATCDR]

I just wonder. The Whipple bumper has been used for many years to shield space craft from micro meteors. I wonder if he had a hand in that as well?