The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1837-11-22
From the New Haven Herald.
METEORIC SHOWER OF NOV.

METEORIC SHOWER OF NOV, 1887.
The fact Of au occurrence of an extra
ordinary exhibition of me'eors, or shooting
stars, on the morning of the 18th of Noyem-
ber, every year for six years past afforded a
sufficient reason, independently of every
theoriticaI consideration, for watching the
heavens atentIvely, on the night of the re-
cent anniversary. The result has justified
our antici pations and we are able to say
that the annual meteOric ShOwer Of Nouenl-
ber has teen repeated tie present year.-
The scale, indeed was vastly inferior to
those of some other years, but still the
phenomenon was marked by such disiuc-
tive pcculiarities with respect To the number,
origin, directions, and trains Of the meteors,
as to leave no doubt of It's identity with
them.
In order that every part of the armament
might receive its due share of attention,
the four quarters of the heavens were par
celled out among eight persons, two to
each quarter, one to observe and one to re-
cord.
The early part Of the evening Of the 18th
afforded some signals of promise. A CO.
,
attended by an easterly wind, had given
place to serene sky, with the wind to the
west from the setting sun dvergcd large
columns of peculiar rose colored vapor !;
and, before six o'clock the auroral pillar of
crimson hue, presented itself in the north
west but before O'Clock, every unusual
appearance had vanished and left an un-
clouded sky.
The full moon, however, shone with so
strong IA light as almost TO hide the stars,
permitting none to be seen below the third
magnitude; of course no meteors but
those of unusual brightness, could be visi-
| BILE.
! No shooting stars were observed until )
minutes past o'clock, when they began to
appear at considerable intervals, emanating
ms usual from the head of Leo, which con-
stella,ion was then ascending the eastern
sky. The meteors gradually increased in
number and brightness until daylight.
Nearly all, as they dared forth, left visible
traces of their paths.-Some of these were
brilliant, and all must have had high de-
gree of brightness to have overcome so
strong moonlight. Indeed, in such a
state of the sky, it is rare on common even
ings to see shooting stars at all. These
traces were in most cases TO be regarded, {,
not as trains, arising from the deposit of
luminous matter, but as mere lines Of light,
owing TO the velocity of the meteors, which
was so great that continued impression
was left on the eye, like that of a stick ig-
nited at the end anil whirled in the air.
l H., a
the meteors, (which made a conspicuous fig
ure in the meteoric shower of 1881 are
rarely luminous enough 10 be visible in full
moonlight. Only two were observed on the
/ present occasion.
/ The whole number counted during the
night was 226. Of these, all but 10 or IL
either radiated from point in the head of
Leo, or moved in lines which, if continued,
would have passed through that point
The position of the radiant was at first
near the Lions eye, (at the star Ma Leonis,)
but afterwards moved southwark aud east
ward little, and soon after o'clock be-
came stationary, near Epailon Leonis,
(rght ascension lac deg, declination "a
deg. 30,) within half degree of its position
in 1896.
The maximum, or period Of greatest fire.
quency, has usually occurred abou, o.
clock but on the present occasion, alter
three o'clock the numbers rapidly increased
and remained nearly uniform for the next
three hours, averaging nearly one per MN
ute.
The various meteorological instruments
we're aten,ively inspected during the ",gh''
but nothing remarkable was observed. Inc
Zodiaeai Light ss,'until los, in the hight
of the moon, very conspicuous in the morn
ing sky. On the 18th. when last seen' Just
before the morning dawn. II presented q