Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1859-12-02

THE METEOR OF NOV. 15.

THE METEOR OF NOV. 10.
rhe meteor that was seen on the morning
of Tuesday, the 18th inst, the first accounts
of which induced the belief that it was either
a deception. or a mistake of some usual nat
ural phenomenon, has been fully accredited
by a great number of observers at various
and distant points.
A gentleman in whose integrity OF vision
we have entire confidence, saw it at Staten
Island, passing in the direction reported by
all other observers, and his impression was
that it fell in the neighboring fields within
few hundred feet or yards.
1t was reported by a number Of persons at
the Central Park (about u miles north by
east Of the aten Island observer) as falling
within the Park, and they spent some time
in looking for its remains. 1t was seen 10y
others near Middletown, Conn, who also
searched for it, confident that it fell within
a few hundred yards of that spot.
Captain Adams of the schooner Tryall,
was sailing down the North River, opposite
Fort Washington, when the man at the
wheel cried out and directed his attention to
it. The Captain, with a true sailors in
stipot. saw it in it, real, and no in any
questionable shape It was about us biz
as respectable tarpaulin, came aboard Of him
at an angle Of forty-fve degrees, barely
cleared the vessel with its tail fifteen feet
long, hiSsed as it went by, struck the water
at the distance of only fifty yards, and "dis-
appeared forever" This last assurance was
particularly comfortable to the man at the
wheel.
A party of school boys at Huntington,
Long Island, and several inhabitants Of the
village, were so certain that it fell within a
few hundred yards of where they stood, that
they spent some time IN searching for it.
Mr. f. Hunter, pilot of the steamboat
Eagle, and his assistant, are equally conf
dent with the boys at Huntington, that the
meteor fell within five hundred yards Of their
boat, three miles south of Albany. Mr..
Hunter declared that he could 60 directly to
the spot.
The people Of Ocean and Burlington Coun-
ties, New jersey, assert that they heard the
noise OF - the machine, " from Barnegat Bay
to thirty miles inland. 1t resembled the
rumblng of cars over a bridge, and whatever
it was. it exploded with the sound Of an earth
quake The oystermen in Barnegat Bay were
alarmed at the brightness of its reflection in
the water, and they pulled for the shore with
long and strong strokes. The jar of the ex-
plosion was senslbly felt on the coast, and on
several vessels near by.
4 correspondent Of the New York Courier
and Enquirer saw it from Fulton Ferry, de-
scribcs it as havi long, narrow, brilliant
tail, rapid motion, and rushing, rocket-like
noIse. 1t was Of dazzling brightness, even in
the full sunshine. No observer reports any
clouds at the time.
4 party of gentlemen fishing near Bed
lows Island give it the same general cbarac-
ter as the Fulton Ferry witness, and add that
il fell in a direction southwest from them.
These various accounts remove all doubt
t at a shooting star or aerolite, of extraordi-
nary size fell at the time sated-on Tues
Jay morning, Nov. Is, about fifteen minutes
after nine clock The different magni udes
ascrjhod to Ii are easily explained. One per
son will see the moon as large as a wagon
wheel, while another with equally good eyes,
standing by his side will aver that it is no
bigger than dinner plate. No other OBJ
jects Of definite size with which a compari-
son can be made present themselves in space
The most intelligent report on this point,
that we have heard. represents it to have
been about four times as large rs a star Of
the first magnitude. 1t has been variousy
dtscrb q 10 be as large as n h"u'1, Il nat, the
moon. &c Tho swlitneSs and only mOmen-
tary existence OF the aerohte give no time for
observation on a point that IS 50 obscure at
best as the size Of body moving in space.
The height Of shooting stars, where they
begin and cease u be visible, IS given by
Humboldt as between sixteen and one
hundred and forty miles. Their velocity Is
from eighteen to thrty-six miles a second
equal to that Of the planets.
The periodicity of metsoric phenomena is
one of the most interesting points of inquiry
to scientific men and the fall of this aerolite
at one of the ascertained, or supposed es- alb
lishcd periods, gives special interest to all
details relating to 1t, \ notice has been Is
sued by the Smithsonian Institute requesting
all observers 10 report to it every fact, great
and small. concerning the phenomenon.
TIE following are some Of the principal
data on which the hypothesis of poriodicity
is assumed.
Nov. and 10, 1877, many falling stars
were observed at Mannheim. ) .uthern Ger
many. by HEmER.
Nov. Is, 1893, occurred the extraordinary
fall of s'ars at Cumana, seen by HUMBOLDT
and BoNPLAND.
Nov. y and l3, 1922, shooting stars inter-
mingled with fre-balls were seen IN large
numbers by KLoDEN. in Potsdam.
Nov. Is, 1881, a great shower of falling
stars was seen by Capt. Berard on the Span
ish coast, near Carthagena del Levant.
Nov y and l3, 1888, occurred the most
remarkable Of all these star showers, widely
observed, and described by Professor OLM-
STEAD and others.
Nov Is ard II, 1884, similar shower,
much less abundant, was seen in various
parts of America.
Noy. 81, 1885. A barn was set on fire by
a sporadic fre-ball at Belley, in the Depart
ment de lain, France.
Nov. l3 and IA, Il. 1888, the fiery shower
was again decidedly witnessed in Europe.
We now add Nov. Is, 1859, for the single
and extraordinary aerolite, of which we
have yet but an imperfect account. The
nights Of this month, 50 far, in New York. I
have been generally u1favorable to observa-
ton, owing to the prevalence of clouds, fog
and smoke.
Arago makes the following observation re-
lative to the recurrence Of the metcoric dis
play in November
- We thus become more and more con
frmed in the belief that there exists zone !
Of mlliyns Of small bodies, whose |
orbits cut the place Of the eciptic at about |
tbe poin, Haich our earth annually occupies |
between the llth aIi I2th of November
1t is a new planetary world beginning to be
revealed to US"
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