St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1883-12-29
A Swarm Of Meteors.

A Swarm Of MeteOrs.
A remarkable observation was made
by Prof. Brooks, an industrious astron-
omer of Western New York, on Wednes-
day evening. While searching with his
telescope for comets, he saw what he
describes as shower of telescope
meteors s.near the sun. This, OF
course, means that they We're near the
apparent place of the sun in the sky,
and not literally near to that body, Tor
the sun had already set at the time, anu
if what Prof. Brooks saw was really q
meteor swarm, the meteor5 must have
been in the upper regions OF our atmos-
phere. Supposed flights of meteors
seen through telescopes have occasion
ally turned out to be focks OF birds, but
an observer as careful and experienced
as Prof. Brooks seems to be would
not be likely to make such mistake
as that Assuming then, that he real
ly did see an extraordinary swarm OF
| meteors, and remembering that mete-
ors large enough to be visible without
telescopes, and some of great size and
brilliancy, have recently been unusually
numerous, the suggestion that the red
| light seen in the sky for several even
ings past long after sunset may be
caused by reflection from clouds OF
meteoric dust in the upper portion OF
the atmosphere is not unnatural.
| There are several reasons for thinking
/ that the strange light is the result OF
some such cause as the presence OF
meteoric dust rather than OF differences
of density in the atmosphere leading to
extraordinary reflection. In the first
/ place, the phenomenon has not only
/ been visible over an immense extent OF
territory, but it has lasted several days,
1 and has been seen in the east before
sunrise as well as in the west after sun
4 set, so that any abnormal refractlon in
the atmosphere would have to be OF
most incredible persistence in order to
account for the observed appearances,
Besides, during this time there have
been considerable atmospheric changes,
! especially in respect to temperature.
These remarkable sunset displays have
also been accompanied by notably
/ hazy appearance of the sky.
1t is well known that the earth is
daily and nightly pelted with millions
of meteors. the vast majority OF which
are almost instantly consumed by the
intense heat developed as they dash
into our atmosphere. The products O
the combustion of these meteors filte,
! slowly down through the air, and have
been found in the shape of metallic dus
on the sffbw-feldsin the Arctic regions
on mountain peaks in Europe, and il
other similar localities, being recognized
! bv their peculiar chemical composition
It is also well known that the solar sys
!, tenn abounds with sWarms OF meteor
revolving around the sun, and that tn
, earth crosses the paths OF number Q
these, occasionally encountering tn
swarms themselves. The vast ma crit
of these meteors are very small, thos
:. that are seen weighing on an aVerag
!. probably only few grains; and sine
! the telescope reveals millions whie
: escape the naked eye, it is reasonable
! conclude that millions more are to
7 small to be seen even with telescopes
mere meteoric dust. There are histori
: instances of supposed falls of meteor
dust, the most remarkable, perhaps, be
). inc that of 1878, when Europe, part
3 Asia, and part of North America wer
!. covered for months with a dry fog,
}, haze, which excited the greatest alarm
:, Prof. Brooks suggestion that the cart
I has encountered a cloud OF meteor
dust is not, therefore, without founds
ton in probability. If the recent bla
n inc sunsets have really resulted frol
such a cause, they are likely to COZ
tinue, in a modified form, for SON
!. time, gradually disappearing as tt
+. dust sinks lower in the atmospher
Q But, although so many reasons can ! !
) advanced which give probability to tt
theory that meteoric dust is concerne
a in the production of these strange SUI
.. set effects, yet it can not be consldere
as proved, and some better explanatlt
! may be offered. Whatever the true e
! PLANTATION may turn out to be, howeve
g everybody seems to agree in the OPP
. ion that the red glare in the west du
= inc the last three or four evenings n
), been one Of tie most singular spectacl
>. beheld in the sky for many years. -
Y. San.
. The Pleasures Of Country Life.
u 80 rood n ,.o,,oyt of