Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-12-13
The Red Light in the Sky.

Dy fTO1. BrOokS, an INDUSTRIOUS dSITOn-
omer of western New York, on Wed
nesday evening. While searching with
his telescope for comets, he saw what
he describes as shower of telescope
meteors "near the sum-" This, of course,
means that they were near the apparent
place of the sun in the sky, and not lit
orally near to that body, for the sun had
already set at the time, and if what
Professor Brooks saw was really me-
teer swarm, the meteOrs must have
been in the upper regions of our attn os-
phere. Supposed flights of meteors seen
through telescopes have occasionally
turned out to be tOcks of birds, but an
observer as careful and experienced as
Professor Brooks seems to be would not
be likely to make such mistake as
that. Assuming, then, that he really
did see an extraordinary swarm of me-
teors, and remembering that meteors
large enough to be visible without tele
scopes, and some of great size and bril-
liancy, 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 me-
teorie 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
refraction. In the first place, the phe-
nomenOn has not only been visible over
an immense extent of territory but it
has lasted several days, and has been
seen in the east before sunrise as well as
in the west after sunset, so that any ab-
normal refractien in the atmosphere
would have to be of almost incredible
persistence in order to account for the
observed appearances. Besides, during
this time there have been considerable
spect to temperature. These remarka-
BILE sunset displays have also been ac-
companied by notably hazy appearance
of the sky.
1t is we'll known that the earth is
daily and nightly pelted with millions of
meteors, the vast majority of which are
almost instantly consumed by the in
tense heat developed as they dash into
our atmosphere. The produ IS of the
combustion of these meteors filter slow
ly down through the air, and have been
found in the shape of metallic dust on
the snow fields on the arctic regions, on
mountain peaks in Europe, and in other
similar localities, being recognizable by
their peculiar chemical composition. 1t
is also known that the solar system
abounds with swarms of meteOrs re-
volving around the sun, and that the
earth crosses the paths of number
of these, occasionally encountering the
swarms themselves. The vast majority
of these meteOrs are very small, those
that are seen weighing on an average
probably only few grains; and since
the telescope reveals millions which es-
cale the naked eye, it is reasonable to
cogSlude that. millions more are too
sf6affto be seen even with telescopes
mere meteoric dust. There are historic
instances of supposed falls of meteoric
dust, the most remarkable, perhaps, be
ing that of 1888, when Europe, part of
Asia, and part of North America were
covered for months with dry fog, OF
haze, which excited the greatest alarm.
Professor Bro )ks's suggestion that the |
earth has encountered cloud Of meteor |
ic dust is not, therefore, without founda- |
tiOn in probability. If the recent blazing |
sunsets have really resulted from such |
a cause, they are likely to continue, in a
modified fern, for some time, gradually |
disappearing as the dust sinks lower in |
the atmosphere. But, although so many |
reasons can be advanced which give |
probability to the theory that meteoric |
dust is concerned in the production of |
these strange sunset effects, yet it can
not be considered as proved, and some |
better explanation may be offered. |
Whatever the true explanation may
turn out to be, however, everybody |
seems to agree in the opinion that the
red glare in the west during the last |
three or four evenings has been one of |
the most singular spectacles beheld in |
the sky for many years.-[N. Y. Sun,
Nov. 80.