The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1866-11-07
1ETE0nS.

al Observatory in Washington, is
making arrangements to take
scientific observations on the eX-
pected meteoric display which will
:come of during the present month.
The subject of meteors and
shooting stars has engaged the at
tention Of eminent aStr0nom- Is
within the last century to a great
er extent than ever before among
them Professors Olmstead, Twi-
ming and Newton have written
valuable papers in connection with
it.
The appearance Of shooting
stars is quite common, but in the
months OF August and November
ofeaeh year they areseen in great
er numbers, generally about the
10th Of August and the 18th OF
November. The great meteoric
shower Of 1899 seems to have
drawn the attention Of astronO-
mers more particularly to this sub
iect, ard from that time to the re-
ecurrence of the metcoric showers
of 1888, and up to-the present day,
they have been endeavoring to re-
fer the differentphases and eharac-
teristic Of the phenomenon to
known laws, and to establish tie
exact anniversary ofits appearance.
Thus far the more brilliant Of its
these mcteor;c showers have oc-
Cured at intervals Of thirty-thrce
years !; that Of 1888 was especially
distinguished by the immense
number Of moving meteors to be
seen at once, and for the remarka-
bic size and, srlendor Of many Of
them. Among the myriad OF
blazing meteors visible on that oc-
casion, one was seen at several
places on this continent. 1t was
recognized by several observers by
its extraordinary size and brillian-
cy, as we'll as by the length Of time
its train remained visible, which
was about ten minutes. The Id
minous train seemed to follow the
meteor in a serpentine course, and
finally disappeared in nebulous
cloud, many times larger than the
moon, and which continued to
move onward with a velocity
greater than the clouds.
The meteoric displays Of 1899
1888 were characterized by the
fall Of meteorites, which, rushing
towards the surface Of the earth
with a loud noise, penetrated be-
meath it several feet. Theperiodi-
city of these starry showers is not
so definitely ascertained with re
gard to the day as to the year.
They. have occurred to a greater
or less degree in the months OF
August and November, from 1888
TO 1899; but the most, remarkable
of them have appeared on the 18th
of November, or between that date
and the 14th,
The next appearance Of the
mctoric phenomenon, therefore, is
expected on or about the 18th Of
next month. The observations Of
astronomers have demonstrated
that the shooting stars are more
numerous between midnight and
sunrise, and the majority Of them
agree in fixing radiant point
that point in which the lines de-
scribed by the meteorS in their
fight centre-in the constellation
Leo, limiting the area ofradiation
to the immediate vicinity Of Regu-
Ius in the neck Of the lion. 9th
ers assign the radiant point to the
constellation Orion.
The theory most generally &C
counting for the regular meteoric
showers, is that an unusual aggre-
CATION Of these asteroids exists in
the plane which is reached by the
earth at that point ofits orbit, and
through which the earthis several
hours in passing, although obser-
vations have not been sufficiently
numerous to establish the exact
period of the earth's arrivalat this
part of the orbit. During the
flight of the meteors in November,
1888, much apprehension was
manifested from the fear that one
or more Of these asteroids would
come into collision with the earth;
but hitherto no disastrous consc-