, 1866-11-10
NOVEMBER METEORS,
Letter from Professor Newton, Of Yaie
College, to Professor Henry, Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institute.


YALE CoLLEGE, Soycnh"- ,, 1876.
DEAR SIN: Sou felncst hrie. atsiement nf
1ch facts respecting ite probable return OF the
ovembcr meteoss this year a. are OF general tn-
&c eub'ccs n1st 9uf statemc.:t Of some o! the |
oinl. t9 which the attention Of observers shoald
The fact Of periodic return Of the metcoss
GEMS eh,.wn b, the following ftct.:
On The 1c!h Of November i u. 1928, ~as re-
shower, ever 10 br remembered BY those
Lo Witnessed it.
! similar lirp1ay orless intsnsity WIS seen over
y Europe on the morning uf tho lsh OF So:em-
pokcn Of in the newspapers Of tls Jay anA 10, mca
be subject of At less two cxten :ed articles In the
On the uorni1sr Of November 1ath. A. D. 11:',
rlowef very lie that .d: year 1S333 was VIZ
,esect in satious parts Vi AMt:ic1, aud :vae par
icu1aris dsteribeob bg Humboldt. who was thea In
ne rctr-i 10 similar display in A. D. 176i. bat
be day o! The year Is mol given.
r,.s6d &c al on lie lie aih Of So1emser, 4. b. 1so;.
The Chinese records .tate that several hac5:ed
hoouns stars nppea'cd on the night Of the t;sh or
s'es ar lar gsen niu Il; new 'sy s:stss
Both IN China and t.Hrope largo nnnh.rs OF |
pshoolin4 Etait wc,e VI lLessed GU tae3d Of Sov.m'
On he morning Of the a,st OF October. A. D.
!sf*i, most remarkable shower was Witnessed in
El1upe-
4 similar srea' shower occurred on the morning
Falling stars arc reported On the ID Of Octoheg,
Tic Chinese records apeak Of thousand. of
shooting r ars on The t1,h OF October, A. D. lG,.
Eu,h in Europe ard in China large untnb>s5 Of
shoslns stars were eecn or the 18th Of October,
In CHINA they were seen October list 4. D.
Dnt one Of the u'ost remarkable ehoweeJ. as
hasc any ACCOUNT, was on the morning Of oc,ob2r
L.
,:netly = cycle ~ shout 'ho laird OF century,
whilc the day Of the month has advanced qa!te
st-aal,y at ta.r IT about three laya In ccun7y>
It should be added that this list is not made mp o.
>clec'lons IRON q large MACS Of similar records.
It lnc!nles all the kuown occurrences Of this phe-
romcnon between, \. D. 9as and A. D. 1;so that
ha:s ha2rened within ten days OF the proper 'iue
.afref 4 b. 1881, tbe number Of unctcora seen on
the morrtns Of the t31h OF November though, for
! lew y"a':, son1e"tat greate7 than we see On Or
uinagy niIhts, 'ycls yet INC nst1ernb.e. and afet
hs'' or stx Year,, no cue could claim unusual uum-
bcr. Tn :aat morning. For tho Ias: three or foar
years, however, thcle have been disti Ct intltca.
s;rns o, the return Of tue SoTemhe. metcors-
This was partculaF1y naLife-t last year. tnasmnch
As single observers oa the morning q the 18th o.
rcs hour. a party Of four persons, 1t New Haven.
nls, proeaby' se Or tx hS lines @ s cFess
would be obtained On ordinary mornings. Nearly
al the meteors. moreover, moved in paths diserg-
!, a
a-i;v the November shooting stars.
Ne cannot predict ,nih coincidence d greater
ui>i''ay this year. The th,r,y.thles year cycle
display may be looked fo1. But We 1aast remen-
her lha. tor .nanJ retRsns OF the period since A.
j.. ~! We have 10 account OF a corresponding
shower.
Eat far the experience OF last year the morniu:
OF November 1awoula be named a. the 1irn. Il
o1 he me mscos En- hsr then
slry to look fnr them on either morning this
year.
that IL, unlll nftcr eleven o'clock III prcsIo i:
| displays TIE maximum Eas usually been between
Previous dlsplays have continued seyera. ho'
little time ofthc shower falls this year belweet
only 10 shose On tie osheE Side u the sarIh Fhus
IN 1879, the display was eyclnslvcly European, al
though wc bad clear skies, while in 1888 this con
1 i grand display was Witnessed it, America, whIls
| ct observers.
| shooiino STARS appear In the npper regions 0
| tte a'p:os}.hc1e. They rarr:y drsctu1 below
Weight Of thirty MILES, and probably do not ap
rear st 3 greater height than one hundred an'
having az average velocity Of twenty-five miles
second, ncl'ly or quile one hundred times the ve
.os Y of sannsn M ea!l: In asSa sens,Asrae.
simultaneously at the Observatory an! Coast Sur
vcy Office In Washington, and by Professor Gam
mere, Ir. A9rsn n nng others at nase,loFd, Penn Penn
l rattons tue true heights ot between seventy au
eighty paths have been computed. The mean a.
ituls At appeafanee was nlnSty-siz miles, aud
| eeem to chow that the November meteofs arc 4
teen or twenty mics higher lhan those Of Angus
is gsnstally aassd that shoGns stssi
comets, which encounter tie earth aad arc hatne
up, or arc diFsipated, in the upper regions Of th