_The hydrogen particles which heretofore had been invisible, began to glow with a wonderful light_, enveloping the entire flyer. For thousands of miles behind the machine stretched a true comet's tail, the flyer forming its head or nucleus. The tail, as in all comets, was turned away from the sun, and although Ralph could not see the end of the tail, he knew that what he had created could be seen for hundreds of thousands of miles, like any natural comet. Ralph, however, was not fully satisfied, and he therefore started to "improve" the comet. He manufactured several other gases in large quantities, which he ejected into space, greatly enhancing the brilliancy and size of the comet's head as well as of its tail. The head, however, he thought was not "solid" enough as yet, and so he set about correcting this defect. Comets are composed chiefly of gases, but contain a large amount of dust. The dust particles act very much like the dust particles upon which a sun ray falls, and it is these particles which create the comet's appearance. If the atmosphere is eliminated and the same dust placed into outer space, a small comet will result. The small particles will be highly electrified by the sun and begin to glow. Each particle repels the other and thus even a handful of light dust will form a respectable comet in space. Ralph made his dust by grinding paper and wood and other materials on a fine carborundum wheel. After he had made a few pails full, he blew the dust out into space, and if his comet had been a magnificent sight before, it was really awe-inspiring to look upon now from a great distance. The heavier particles clung close to the flyer, on account of gravitational action, but completely enveloped it. The machine was now a true planet, while the fine dust particles had become little satellites, revolving around their central body, the flyer. The lighter dust particles found their way into the tail, as the powerful pressure of the sun's light overcame the attraction which the flyer brought upon them. Ralph turned off the high frequency current and yet the comet was not extinguished and its brilliance was not in the least dimmed. The gas and dust particles had no way to dissipate their initial electrical charge, being in an absolute vacuum; and Ralph's artificial comet had become a real one. Inasmuch as the dust was quite dense immediately around the flyer, Ralph's outlook was not as clear as it had been before. He could just see the stars, which seemed enveloped in a haze. This, however, pleased him greatly, as he knew that his artificial comet must look like a natural one from a great distance. In this he had not been mistaken. As he afterwards learned, his comet had been "discovered" simultaneously on Earth, on Venus, and on Mars the same day he had made it. It had been charted and named, and on account of its great brilliance and long tail, had been immediately termed "The Great Comet of 2660."