The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-25

AN AUGUST METEoR-How OUR VISITOR LOOKED,
AND WHAT He WAs-A large and brilliant meteor
be strolng abroad "n the quiet eventide" about
twenty-five minutes past O'Clock yesterday. The
sky was cloudless, the moon not yet risen, when
suddenly silver-coored meteor shot into view
from near the southern-most star in the constea-
tion "Great Bear" and swept westwardy across the
broad blue expanse Of the armament until it ap-
peared to strike star and explode at point about
fifteen degrees above the western horizon. trail
like mimic milky way, narrower in its belt but far
brighter in its light, marked out for almost fifteen
minutes the straight pathway of the celestial rover,
illuminating objects with brilliancy only second TO
the blaze of the full moon that shone several hours
subsequently From this nucleus arose clrclng
stream Of whtsh vapor winding in fold upon fold TO
vast height upward, like the ascending streams
sage not strictly vertical one for after short
portion Of its rising it swept in broad semi-crcuar
bend southwardly and then assembled perpendi-
Cularly.
1t is wonderful to contemplate the change which
in few short years has come over all our views re-
specting these meteors. Ten years ago it was con-
sideTed sufficiently daring to regard the August
system as part Of zone of cosmical bodies travel
ling in an orbit as large perhaps as that of our own
earth. Now, the distance of even Neptune seems
small in comparison with thatfrom which those bodies
have come TO us, which flash athwart our skies in
momentary splendOr, and then vanish for ever dis
sipated into thinnest dust by the seemingly feeble
resistance of our atmosphere Accustomed to
turn and Jupiter Uranus and Nep-
tune, with orbits which must be
measured by hundreds Of millions Of miles, the
astronomer sees with wonder these tiny and fragile
bodies traversing paths yet vaster than the outer
planets. Anu even more remarkable perhaps, IS
the mmensity of the period which the August
shooting-star has occupied in cirCling around the
central Orb Of our SYSTEM Each one of the bodies
which may be seen during August has been in the
neighbOrhood of the carhs orbit many times be-
fore; yet the last visit made by them took place
many years before the birth of any person now lv-
ing since the period Of mCteOric revolution has been
proved to be upwards of 1lS years
Another strange feature Of the August meteor
system is the enormous volume of the space through
which, even in eur neighbOrhoOd, the meteOr-stra-
tum extends. The famous November system is puny
| by comparison. Striking that system at sharp
angle, the earth traVersGs it in few hours, that
If the earth went squarey through it the passage
| hundred minutes. Thus the depth of the November
meteor-bed has been calculated to be but hundred
| thousand miles or so. Bat the earth takes nearly
| three days in passing through the August meteor
| For the August meteors come pouring
| down upon our earth almost from above,
| msOmuCh that the radiant point on the
heavens whence the shower seems TO proceed Is not
very far from the North Pole; whereas the NOvem-
Der meteors meet the earth almost full front, as
| rain-stoTm blown by head-wnd drifts in the face
of the traveller Thus the depth of the August sys-
TEN has been estimated at three millions Of miles;
| along the whole Of that enormous range TO be
counted by hundreds OF millions Of miles, through
| which the August ring extends, the system has
| depth exceeding some four hundred times the dame
| ter of the earth on which we live.
Yet it is probable that the whole weight of the Au-
| gust system, vast are s dimensions, Is infinitely
less than that of many hill upon the earthS surface.
| For the weight of the separate falling stars of the
| system has been determined, by one of the Won
drOusy subtle applications of modern scientific pro-
cesses, to be but a few ounces at the outside and
/ even during the most splendid exhibition of falling
stars the bodies which seem to crowd our skies are
stances, thousands of miles separate the successfully
| appearing lneteOrS.