Weekly national intelligencer., 1850-10-19
THE FALLING STARS OF AUGUST THE TENTH.
rAos A LATE LONDON PAPER.

cn sno"oi ~ ianis sst Wncn certainly will not havs
escaped the most common attention The most copious o.
all has been that of the lOh when in four hours only Of OBJ
sevaon there have been Identified more than a27 the great
est part of them very beautiful and similar to flaming squbs
that with their sparkling sns ploushins socaroao)
the of the armament The observations were con-
nued until the evening Of the 18th current but the fruits
became considerably less In the evening Of the Ib from
the hours Of eight and half the hours of eleven and
half there counted lzO the greater part very small
the evening of the l2th, within the interval from nine to
twelve o'clock, not more than rs from which il Is evident
mat the true epoch OF the maximum Of the frequency
the 10th day Of the current month Observations of this
otherwise 50 well KNOWN have become Of the
highest importance, since recent investigations have demon
that they belong that class Of phenomena which
eckoned to be cosmic. or belonging the universe
One of the most remarkable characteristics is their constant
psrodcy Although falling stars rregusry directed and,
they Called sporadic, not unfequent throughout
the whole year. nevertheless the epochs Of November the
18TH and August the 10th, remarkable for their
abundance, and for other singular parculartiss
The first Of these epochs attracted general attention after
the celebrated aPParitOn Of the falling which was seen
in America in the night between the 18th and l4h Of No
vember 1888, in which the sky seemed in blaze with
shower Of living fire the number Of falling stars was esti-
mated to be more than two hundred housand their frequency
being great that was impossible count them. In the
year 1884 the same phenomenon ecurred the night
and from that date subsequently the appaon OF these
has been more or less abundant at that season.
The other period Of August the 10th had been remarked
good while before, that being Of the year in which
there convenience for the enjoyment Of SO beautiful
spectacle The old manuscript chronicles preserved at
ford speak OF this phenomenon and the title of The Tears
OF o. Lawrence, which given to these stars by ancient
tradition shows the constancy Of their periodical occurrence
have been popular persuasion, although the recognition
Of TO have been almost passed the professors
OF physical science For years back has seemed
seasons have been less distinguished from the of the
perhaps because the appaons have taken place in the
day time The oleraby rich apparion of these stars which
we have recently Observed promise that they
about to resume their old The appeared pre-
ference ia the consultations Of Bootes and Of the Northern
Crown, during the night Of the 9th and in the evenings of
the 10th and th in the beautiful consultations of the Lyre
Of the Swan Of Hercules of the Bull Of Ponatowk and Of
Sepentans The common direction fhose which traversed
the sky near the zenith from N.NE. to S.S.W as if
IN parallel lines, with very few exceptions Of slightly
divergent One only 60 in contrary direction,
and SIX or seven in perpendiculars to the first.
Many raversed the Great and Lesser Bears andthe Ora
gon several Pegasus, Aadromeda, and Aquaus Proong-
Ing the traces Of all these falling stars it found that they
would proceed to point Of union in the heavens situated
the constellation of Peeus below Cassiopeia from which
they would appear to dvege by the effect of spherical per-
specve Il is to be noted that this direction comedies almost
exactly with that observed formerly n 1885, and other
years the same day.
The most beautiful shone first in the quarter Of Cassio-
peia, raversed in fash the beautiful consultations Of the
Lyre and the Swan, and saned parallel the Milky Way
to the constellation SerpeDtarius describing sometimes an
arc OF co. SOo and more and leaving behind them
selves trace perfectly similar that the trains Of artificial
fireworks The true celebrity Of those bodies ought to be pro-
porona to the apparent and suppong them pretty
near the earth, that is not higher than from sixteen
miles, as appears to result from the observations of Branes
and from the calculations of Obers they must at least run
from heen to twenty miles in second motion altogether
to the celestial bodies and analogous that with
which the planets circulate in their orbits round SUM- Be-
Sides this velocity would alone hout relying others
OF greater wegh be sufficient destroy the old hypothesis
that the falling stars are false lights gnes uu
hurled at the earth from the volcanoes Of the moon
From trough approximation which could alone be applied
to these observations the plane Of the orbit common to all
the falling stars observed these evenings would inclined
about 55 to the ecpc. Brandes in 1885, by accu
rate measurements found the inclination be 56o This
Is new confirmation Of these bodies belonging the plane
ary saysem no less than comets The luminous trace left
BY some Of the mcs brilliant is believed by some be an
optical Illusion but erroneousy for the often visi
BILE Tor about second, that is distinct time after the
hipa Of the star, and Of impression on the retina
was, moreover of different figure from at of the star
and whais more conclusive it frequently seen by those
who had not seen the star at ALL
An unexpected circumstance attracted our attention this
me This the periodical renewal of the brightest of the
apparitions at certain intervals of time After beautiful
burst Of seven eight most beautiful stars there was pause
ordinarily Of eight to ten minutes, then new apparition
with complete similarity in the identical place of the heavens
From the register which kept results that for several
consecutive times similar groups appeared in the same con-
seaons at an interval Of twenty minutes Those groups
had at intervals OF to eight minutes nterposed be-
parts Of the heavens and these also appeared to
sdicay.
Whether this circumstance was or was not mere chance
shall not attempt to decide; ii certainly too notable
not to deserve to be held in account for its vecaon or dis
mssal upon other occasions of appariton.
The conclusions which may possibly be drawn from these
periodical returns are most interesting In fact the opinion
now generally entertained the of these bodies is
that they many small asteroids, which, revong in
groups round the sun, make themselves visible the earth
when the earth traveses that of space which occupied
by them Many facts having demonstrated the analogy Of
thunderstones boEd with falling stars and proved that
they are phenomena of the SORT the belief has arisen
that the luminous phenomenon Of their Inflammation happens
when they pass sufficiently to the earth for them to enter
into our atmosphere and make themselves ncondescent by
friction Its certain that many Of them fall as hunderstones
(ood or aeroites the surface Of the EARTH distracted
from their orbit and attracted by the preponderang force of
our planet this be true, probable might it not also
happen that many might be drawn much from their course
as to become satellites Of the EARTH least for some te
and make around it number Of revolutions before falling
down on the earth, before being consumed in the atmo
sphere, or being voazed in successive confagaton This
ldea which Is suggested by the equality Of the interval Of
time between the apparion Of similar groups becomes
probable 1t be considered that this peodcy was observed
IN the most Brilliant in those perhaps which pass
TO us IN those which having the longest tail must lose
siderable part Of their mass
ten or twenty minutes appears short for the possibility of
the circuit of all the earth an elliptic orbit may be
ed that the celebrity requisite for this would be nothing
ordinary in bodies endowed with planetary velocity velo
city not much greater than ha, Of the earth in its orbit being
sufficient for such an effect %H
Erman besides believes it to be proved that these asteroids
In the pehelion of their orbit may have velocity five times