The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1866-10-25
The Expected Mcte0ric shower
lsl November.
TIE SHOWERS IN 1899 AND 1898.

TIE SHOWERS IN 1899 AND 1888.
Prof. Ferguson, of the national observa.
tory in Washington City. is making ar
ran@ements to take scientific observations
oa the expected meteoric display in No>
vember next. The subject of mcreors and
shooting stars has engaged the attention
OF eminent astronomers within the last cen
tury to greater c tent than ever before
among them Profs Olmstead. Twining and
/ Newton have written valuable papers in
connection with it.
The appearance of shooting stars is
quite common, but in the months OF Au.
gust and November Of each year they are
seen IN greater numbers, generally about
the 18th ofNovember. The great meteor
ic shower Of 1899 seems to have drawn
the attention Of astronomers more partic-
ularly t. this subject, and from that time
to the recurrence Of the meteorc showers
in 1888, and uo to the present day, they
have been cndcavoring to refer the differ
ent phases and characteristics of the phe>
nomenon to known laws, and to establish
the exact anniversary Of its appearance
Thus far the more brilliant Of these me-
tcoric showers have occurred at intervals
Of 33 years; that Of 1888 was especially
distinguished by the immense number Of
moving meteors to be seen at once, and for
the remarkable size and .plendor of many
Of them. Among the myria6s OK blazing
meteors visible on the occasion, one was
seen at several places oD this continent
1t wa7 recognized by several observers by
its extraordinary size and brilliancy, a.
well as by the length Of tine its train re-
manned visible, which was about ten min
utcs The luminous train seemed to fol-
low the meteor in serpentine course, aud
finally disappeared In vast nebulous cloud
many times larger than the moon, and
which continued to move onward with
velocity greater than the clouds.
The mcteoric displays of1799 and 1888
were characterized by the fall of fmeteortes,
which, rushing towards the surEice of the
earth with a loud noise, penetrated be-
meath it several feet The periodicity of
these starry showers is not so definitely as
certained with regard to the day as to the
;
less degree in the months of August and
November, from 1888 to 1889; but the
most remarkable Of them have appeared on
the 10Th OF November, or between that
date aud the l4th
The rext appearance Of the meteoric
phenomenon, therefore, is expected on or
about the 10Th of next mouth. The OBJ
Of astronomers have demonstra
ted that the shooting stars are more nus
merous between midnight and sunrise, and
the majority Of them agree in fixing the
radiant point-that point in which the
lines described by the meteors in their
flight centre--in the constellation Leo, lm>
ting the area of radiation to the immediate
of Rcgulus in the neck of the lion
Others assign the radiant point to the con
ISOLATION Orion
The theory most generally accepted in
accounting for the regular recurrence Of
showers is that an unusual aggrc
CATION Of these asteroids exists in the plane
which is reached by the earth at that point
Of its orbit. and through which the earth
is several hours in passing although obser
vations have not been sufficiently numer-
Gus to establish the exact period of the
earth $ arrival at this part of its orbit
During the flight of meteors in November.
1898, much apprehension was manifested
from the fear that one or more of these as
teroids would come into collision with the |
earth; but hitherto no disastrous conse-
auences have cnsued from this grand ce>
lestial display, and. although there is some
reason to believe that an event Of this kind |
is possible, scientific mcu unite in the opin-
ion that such a calamity is not within the
bounds of probability.