Morning journal and courier., 1881-11-18
Price Four Cents.

passage through the meteor-zone, and it's ex
 istence may be proved by small number of
 shooting stars radiating from the constella-
 tion Leo, that observers, especially in the
 small hours of the morning, have seen when
 the sky was clear, though star gazing has
 been greatly interfered with by the interven-
 tion of unwelcome clouds. The November
 meteors are interesting members of the solar
 family, and, ignorant as we are concerning
 bodies celestial, we probably know some
 thing of their origin and development The
 result Of careful investigation seems to prove
 that the November me$eors consist of a
 swarm of particles following the comet of
 1866 in it's orbit. One of our giant plan
 cts, Uranus, actually captured this comet
 when, in the year 126, it chanced
 to approach too near it's alI-powerfuI
 neighbor. The planet bent the comet
 wire is bent by the hand, and never since has It been able to escape from it's jailer. It is
 no unusual thing for comet to break in
 pieces, and for tail to lag behind the
 nucleus, the whole cosmical mass becoming more and more elongated until it is either
 partially or entirely resolved into ring of meteors. In the August meteors, assoriated
 with the comet of 1862, the process is com.
 pleted, and the whole path of the comet is
 strewn with portions of its mass. The small
 dark meteoric bodies penetrating the earth's atmosphere become luminous, and give each
 year more or less brilliant but unfailine display of falling stars about the 10th of
 August. In the November meteors, the
 process of disintegration has not advanced so
 lar, the meteor zone is comparatively young,
 the stream having not yet scattered over a tenth Of the orbit Consequently we do not
 have star shower every year, for the meteors are not uniformly distributed throughout snelr orolt, but are mostly concentrated in an immense group in one part of 1t The orbit Of the November meteors is a gigantic hoop or eclipse, with its perihelion lyinp on the earth's orbit, and its aphelion just be- yond the orbit of Uranus In this orbit tbe meteors move in their cratic fashion around the sun, the revolution averaging about thlrty-three and quarter years This ne. riod of time must therefore intervene he- tween the grand meteoric showers that ,,ccnr when the earth 1ntersects the vast meteoric swarm The particles that strike our at mosphere, becoming ignited by the concus- s1on, then descend in 8 shower of fire. and form one of the most glorious displays of celestial wonders that are witnessed by mor tai eJ es As the earth encounters the me- teorlc group for three consecutive wears at the same place, its extent cannot be less than nearly eighteen hundred million miles. In 1899 we may look for return of this superb phenomenon, when meteors will IaH from the skies like golden snow flakes, and the glitterine stars will seem to be involved in a general conAapra- ion. In 1900 and 1901 the fiery shower will be renewed, though on scale less grand. 'nd then, unless something unforeseen oc- 'urs, comparative quiet will reign in the Mo- Tember star-it sky, until the year 1882 ush- ITS ln the return of the meteoric swarm to TOSS he earth's track and repeat the grand ilsplay. For eighteen years to come we may lot see the heavens on fire under the dark dominion of the night But. as nothing is nore uncertain than anything connected with 'ometlc and meteoric movements, it is well to can the skies with every return of the 18th If November. When least expected the leavens may take on some new aspect, and lurrylng swarm of meteors fill that portion # the ring into which the earth then punges with headlong force. remorselessly imprison- ng In her atmosphere the tiny atoms of the warming mass, and treating observers who re on the watch to a shower of golden rain. lany strange things may happen on the ce- sstiai concave before the year 1899.