summary of lesson the comet 1 class 8 cbse english supplementary
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Manoj Dutta lived on the outskirts of Kolkata. He had a secret ambition to discover a comet. When he retired, he bought an 8-inchc telescope. He named it ‘dibyachakshu’. His wife called it simply dibya. Duttada, as he was popularly known, spent many nights looking at the stars through dibya.
one moonless night, Duttada detected a new faint star. in fact, it was a new comet. after watching it for two nights, he informed the indian institute of astrophysics at Bangalore. They confirmed that Duttada had discovered a new comet. The comet was called ‘comet Dutta’.
Duttada liked to lead a quiet life. but his discovery made him famous. He was invited to a number of functions. Duttada was fed up. He wished he had not discovered the comet. His wife also agreed with him. but her reasons were different. She was unhappy because her husband was associated with the discovery of an evil object.
Duttada told her that comets were harmless. Like planets they orbit the sun. But their orbits are too eccentric. They come from afar. They have a longish tail. When they come near the sun, they shine brightly. After sometime, they disappear again and do not appear again for years.
Dr. James Forsyth was a professor at king’s college, Cambridge. He learnt about comet Dutta. He made his calculations. he found that in ten months’ time, comet Dutta was going to collide with the earth. He wrote a paper and sent it to a scientific magazine, ‘nature’. He wanted to have his paper published immediately.
Taylor, the editor of ‘nature’, was a friend of sir john Macpherson, who was defense science advisor to the British government. Taylor showed the paper to sir john for his opinion. Sir john did not want the paper to be published immediately. He sent for Dr. Forsyth.
A special messenger went to Cambridge to bring Dr. Forsyth to Macpherson’s office at night. the visit was kept secret. Sir John gave Dr. Forsyth’s manuscript to him. He said that he had verified his calculations and the collision between the earth and comet Dutta was imminent. He insisted that this prediction should be made known to the whole world. But Sir John said that if this information reached the people, they would be panicked. The collision meant the end of all living beings on the earth. so he advised Dr. James Forsyth to rewrite his paper. He wanted it to tone it down. He should say that there was a probability of the comet colliding with the earth. But collision was not certain. Then sir john decided that a secret meeting of experts from all over the world should be held.
PLS MARK AS BRAINLIEST
Duttada was not a scientist or astronomer. But star-gazing was his pastime. He used to spend long nights studying the stars. His one ambition in life was to discover a new comet. He longed for enough money to buy a good telescope and also free time to study the stars. He got them both after retirement. He bought an eight-inch telescope to fulfil his secret ambition. He knew that comets come from the solar system. Like other planets they too go round the sun. But their movement is unusual. They could disappear for ages.
Indrani Debi, his wife, cursed the telescope. She called it Dibya or Dibya Chakshu
i. e. Divine Eye. She thought that the telescope was another woman who had trapped her husband. It made him careless about his own well-being and the practical problems of living. He did not take precautions against cold.
The professional astronomers used big telescopes. Duttada’s eight-inch Dibya stood very little chance of spotting a new comet. Still Duttada was hopeful. He knew that the great scientists looked chiefly at faint stars. They missed such an insignificant thing as comet.
One night Duttada noticed a new comet. Two days later the news appeared in the paper that a Calcutta man Manoj Dutta had seen a comet and it was reported at Indian Institute of Astrophysics. This comet was heading towards the earth, and it would be seen with naked eyes in the next few months. It was named ‘Comet Dutta. He became famous, a celebrity.
There were felicitations for Duttada. But he didn’t like functions organised in his honour. He wished he had not discovered the new comet. His wife agreed but for a different reason. She was highly educated, still supertitious. She feared that comets brought ill-luck and calamities on the earth.
At Cambridge University, Dr James Forsyth got a message to see John Macpherson, Defence Science Advisor to the British Government. Sir John handed him an article which James had written and sent for publication to Nature’. It was very important because James had forewarned that Comet Dutta would hit the Earth and destroy it.
The collision could be avoided if it got broken into pieces while coming near the sun or it might collide with some other comet. The tragedy could occur in just ten months.
It was decided to call an urgent meeting of experts to find out ways to save the Earth. They had to do something to push the deadly co tomet out of the way.