Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-05-05
The Iowa Meteor.
From the Iowa City Republican.

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From . somewhat careful discussion
of the observations of the meteor made
In different parts Of this state, and In
Illinois, am able to give the follow.
ing as the most probable path Of this
body. Iexpect to revise my calcula-
tions before embodying them In per-
manent form, but have some degree
Of confidence that az presented to-day
they are as near the truth 40 can be
expected from data obtained under
such unavoidable disadvantages as at
tend the sudden and unexpected flight
of meteor.
The true course Of the meteor was
from 8. W. to N. E., and at an angle
Of about % deg. with the meridian.
1t therefore passed nearly over the
towns Of Sigourney and Batavia. hav-
ing. when over the latter place an al
titude Of less than 30 miles. Ny
method Of ascertaining this was BY
drawing upon . slate globe 18 inches
in diameter, the course Of the meteor,
as seen from many different stations.
The point in which any two OF these
intersect would be q radiant, II the
observations were perfect, and In the
case of perfections their average may
be condsidered approximately correct.
As seen at Iowa City the length Of
Its path to the place OF falling was not
much more than 50 miles, and as
many observers here seem to think its
flight occupied 10 seconds, thon its
average velocity was miles per sec.
ond.
lam aware that this determination
of the velocity Of such q body is very
difficult, and at the same time of great
importance in view of the rival theo.
ries of the origin and orbit Of such
bodies. There are many things enter.
Ing into the proper reduction OF OBJ.
servatlOns OF this kind that cAnuot ha
called mathematical. One difficulty
lies in the fact that eye estimations of
altitude under 6O degs. are almost al.
ways too large, and another 10 that in
the case Of any bright meteor its path
10 always conceived to be longer In
both directions than il really is. Album.
dant proof of the existence Of these
sources of error is afforded by the case
before Us. From these tests, SO far 40
l have had time to apply them, the
above results are satisfactory in regard
to the course of tho meteor. And In
reference to its velocity think that
the amount above given is quite large
enough; at all event nothing like the
velocity of the earth (l9 miles per
second) appears to be possible. The ve-
locity would be still smaller II we take
the observations at Sigouruey, where
the meteor appeared directly overhead
and occupied 10 seconds In ito journey
thence until it disappeared, q distance
of SO miles, which would give . ve-
locity of 3.6 miles per second. There
Is an important confirmation of the
results In the fact that when the meteor
was about lover Sigourney, itsppesred
Washington to be "passing athwart or
little below the MOON" Its altitude
at tho instance then could not have
differed much from l6 miles. II our
estimate of its direction In correct |:
and the fact that It was seen overhead,
at SigouIney. and that it was thought
to have passed over Birmingham is
confirmatory Of the direction Of the
path deduced above.
Certain irregularities In the course
Of the meteor are mentioned by two
relisble observers. Mr. G. Holm, of
Marengo, who had good view Of It
just previous to its disappearance, said
that its descending path was wave
like. Mr.. Frank McClintock, Of West
Union, says that at one time It gave .
sudden though slight dart to the East.
The portions OF the meteor found
thus far fell In T. 80 N ROW. and
principally along the line separating
The two western tiers Of sections In
that Township. The area ON which
they fell 10 about miles long by ~
miles In breadth. The largest pieces
fell in sections 6 and Z. Visited
this vicinity on the 31st OF March,
and found that halt dozen email
pieces whose aggregate weight Waa
about 8 pounds had just been found.
I secured these and employed IN en-
terprisiDg young man Mr.. Frank
Greeley to search the district which
mapped out for him. In.pursuance oi
our arrangement he secured the assis.
tance OF number Of men and boys
and made systematic search which
resulted In the finding Of $50 pounds,
of which have secured l4l. Other
parties in this city have somewhere
from Is to so pounds and know Of
Is pounds more yet not brought to the
city. I suppose therefore that the
whole mass may have amounted to q
much - $50 pounds.
The appearance of the pieces Of the
meteor 10 quite peculiar: there i NJ
danger Of any one being unable to dis'
singuish them at sight from any sesres'
ticM rock, scho e a6Ie to disttagxisl
beans from, shelled corn. They An
covered ON the outsids with = blacl
coating formed by the melting Of th,
outer surface in consequence OF fric
ton with the air. In some Of th,
fragments there 10 plain evidences o.
an explosion having taken place whilt
tho meteor was yet In the dir, and th<
| melted matter In these cases has appa
rently run over these surfaces OF frac
ture. In other cases there arc frac
iuras where the newly exposed sur
faces are barely smoked.