The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-11-15

The METEoRIc SHOWER A SEEN ~ RICH
MoND.-Nlodern astronomical researches rem
| der 1T almost certain that there are numerous
| streams Of nebulous matter circulating ri
| large In space in very much the same manner
as the comets. About the year l34, according
| 10 the researches of lie Verrier, the Director
| OF the Imperial Observatory Of Paris, one OF
| these streams was pouring across the orbit OF
| Uranus, and by chance approached near &c
| that planet that its attraction was sufcie n tly
| powerful TO render il 4 permanent member OF
the solar system, By changing the form OF its
| orbit TO an elipse, one extremity of which lies
| in the neighborhood of the path of Uranus, and
| the other extremity of which passes around
| the sun, touching the earth's orbit at the
point occupied by our globe on the 18th, 14th,
and 18th OF November every year. In order
10 have something tangible TO fix our ideas,
we may conceive this stream Of nebulous
| matter rs 4 stream of cobbe stones, very much
| more numerous in some places than in others,
but still 4 continuous stream occupying the
whole of the periphery of the eIlipse inst de-
scribed, and each one of the cobble stones ac-
complshing its revolution around the sun in
about thirty-three years. Each November
| the earth plunges into the part Of this stream
which At that time happens 10 be in contact
with its path and as each individual cobble
| stone shoots through the atmos phere the fric-
| tiOn thus generated is so great rs TO raise 1t
| to 4 white heat, and it becomes visible for an
| inst tant as falling star, or in scientific Ian
| Il meLtOTlIe. II the part OF LHe
trarersed by the earth is thin. and the stones
| far apart. the meteors will be- comparatively
! few i'm number; but if the stream is thick and
| the stones numerous. then we have meteoric
| shower.
The most singular part of the whole matter
| yet remains TO be told, and that is, that within
| the last few month it has been proved almost
| beyond the possibility of n doubt that several
small comets which have been recently OBJ
served actually move in and form part of
t,;Es ,ntI dc shApn nrn
| neither more nor less than rather large me-
teoriteS.
1t has been stated above that the attraction
| of Uranus originally brought this stream of
meteorites into the solar system and it may
be asked if il is not posi- BILE for the attracto
| of the earth to convert some Of these bodies
into permanent satellites OF our planet. Such Z
thing is by no means impossible, and indeed the
researches of IN eminent European astrono-
| mer render it highly probable that the earth
actually has 1T least one such attendant re-
| volving around il in period of less than four
hours, but owing to the small size of the
body it can only become visible under eXcep-
tionallv favorable circumstances.
But TO return to the main body of the stream
1t was stated that it is thicker, and the me-
teorites more numerous in some places than III
others. In one particular region they are in
comparably more thickly crowded together
than in any other, and regularly once IN
about thirty three years it returns to the
point in space traversed by the path OF the
earth in November, and gives rise to the
famous star showers about which SO much mas
been said and written of late.
Now, let the reader picture to himself these
meteorites hurrying on in their course through
the depths of space. We Will fX our alteh. :.
ton more particularly upon the thickeSt ana
most crowded part of the stream, where they
arc as numerous as gnats in the summer air.
All day Wednesday both they and the earth
We're rushing in = headlong chase TO the
same point of space, and about O'CLOCK
yNl NfyDI
into the stream. Instantly stars began TO
fall thick as autumn leaves. Scarcely an in
slant passed that their quivering, fiery paths
were not to be seen lighting mp the silent sky,
and for much OF the time there were half Il
score in the air at once. Some were mere
specks of lght-faint sparks from the labora-
tory of nature while others shone with
Il brillancy surprising that OF the largest
rockets, and with all the colors OF the rain
bow. At Il quarter past O'Clock the earth
had reached the thckest of the stream, and
the celestial bombardment was ut its height.
Two observers, whose range OF vision only
embraced about half of the visible heavens,
counted l93 metcors in ten minutes. They
were living past the earth 1t the rate OF more
than two thousand every hour, and us each
one passed the friction created by its Hight
through the atmosphere was so great that
it burst into lame lighting up the
heavens, and for Il brief instant contrl-
buting its mite to the brilliant spectacle, then
plunging again into the depths Of space, no
more TO be seen by mortal eye till at the exp-
ra tion of another period Of thirty-three years,
when most of those who now bchcld IL shall
be quietly resting
- Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the Judgment day."
perchancp it may again contribute its share
towards the grandesL spectacle which the hea-
yens ever present for the contemplation OF
mortas.
Such was the mpeoriC shower of the morn
ing of November lith, 1867. The most bril-
liant part of it occurred between the hours OF
half past and halfpast /, and Immediately
afterwards the number OF meteorS became
perceptibly less. Perhaps the point most
worthy of attention was the sudden and we'll
marked manner in which the shower COM
menccd. Al o'clock the meteors were not
very numerous but IT ::ij they began to in
crease in number and 1t 4 quarter past the
shower was 1T its height. They were then
shooting across the sky at the rate of not less
than from TWO thousand tn twenty-five hun
dred an hour, and the fact that they all rldated
from one point in the constellation Leo was
glaringly evident. By twenty minutes 5efore
i've the number was perceptibly less. but rs
the sky became quite overcast, il was iIntortu-
natcly impossible to observe the termination
of the display. No one can expect 10 witness
:, spectacle Of such L character more than
once in Il life time; and the brilliancy and
sublmity of that Of last night was such rs 10
stamp il indelihly upon the memories of those
who were 50 fortunate rs TO behold il.