Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-12-14
ANY POST, Established in 1873.
Vtx ,NTEl In 1876.


This norton OF Tue eHi III ""7
w.aneeday evening to anotherdisp "l
.r,v fireworks of the same nature
r;dely observed and commented
fortnight previously. lEe sho"
onWeduesday evening little after
sawp a bright yellow making its APP
-.rce in the western heavens. From
u.s gradually developed later an
inls ance of the most brilliant ana
IA which spread north and soutf
nety a,d i. the zenith. The exhibition
s.s,sd about an hour, ana ""s e1"',1u- 'sea
iooly fine during thar tIiile' ~,
,b,ness .nsb of the light cast reheetioh
Dnen every at.ainsble object IA tlie citV;
X tons of the hlRhe't bnIiGliss anu
.ha lots ON the hiiltops were cioei1,o u III
va sonJ I'd, of soft. rich light oi a criin son
- ~ seen through Dnlldl"R- as
sa,sas slaau. Of persons sew 1t ia walking
pTnon+ s,reet. al! the appearances OF
On S,s we're presented-so near In
s.o, thai had one not known hetter' II
lac', ,s nc ha,e heen believed the bu'ldihGs
themselves were ablaIe ;t,r,,;,.o
TIE nature Of this heavenly i.iutiliila-
,;on Continues TO be An object oi 'aeofy
III s,e,uIatioa wherever ooseTVeo, she
ans 1fpro,ed Of which seems TO be that
aacy;hino il to meteors. we cannot do
ss,,sr here than present The article FOL
De'so. from the New York S5,H. of
November Jun .. -.
,emarkable observation was made
49, pyofesser Brooks. an ,ndnstfious
astronomer of western Ne" 'ork' on
wednesday evening. While searching
with bis telescope for comets he saw
what he describes az a shower oil teie-
comic meteors near the sun lhi-,
- conrse. means that they were near
The apparent place of the sun IN the
sty. and not literally near that body,
sor the sun had already set at the time.
and II what Professor Brooks saw was
,salIy meteor swarm, the meteors
,onat have been in the upper regions of
our atmosphere. Supposed flights of
msteors seen through the telescopes
have occasionally turned ont to be
a,rks of birds, but an observer IA care
fnl and experienced AS Professor Brooks
.asms 10 be wOnld not be likely to make
uncb mistake AZ that. Assuming,
then. that he really did see All eytraor-
dnary swarm Of meteOrs, and renem-
bsrine that meteors large enough 81
le visible without telescopes, and
soule Of great SIZE and bril-
liancy, have recently been unusually
numerous. the suggestion that the red
lipht seen in the sky for several even
inps past long after sunset may be
caused by reflection froal clouds of me
,soric dust in the upper portion of tho
atmosphere il not unnatural. There
arc several reasons for thinking that
the strange light is the result of some
yuch cause as the presence of meteerio
dpst rather than of difference of density
in the atmosphere leading to extraordi-
nary refraction. In the first place, the
pbenonenon has not only been visible
over an immense amount of territory,
Lut It has lasted several days, and has
been seen in the East before sunrise as
we'll as in the West after sunset, So that
Any abnormal refraction In the atmos-
pbere would have to be of almost in
csedible persistence i'll order to account
for the observed appearances. Besides.
during this time there have been 3nsid
srabe atmospheric changes, especially
in respect to temperature. These re-
markable sunset displays have also been
accompanied by notably hazy appear
snce Of the sky.
II 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 in
10 our atmosphere. The products Of
the combustion of these meteors filter
slowly down through the air, and have
been found III the shape of metallic
dust on the snow fields of the ar site re-
gions, on mountain peaks IN Egrope,
and in other similar localities, being
recognizable by their peculiar chemical
composition. 1t is also known that the
solar system aboands with swarms of
msteors revolving around the sun, and
that the earth crosses the paths of a
number Of these occasionally eBcount
efinR the swarms themselves. The vast
majority of these meteors are very small,
those that are seen weighing on an aver
age probably only few grains
and since the telescope reveals millions
which escape the naked eye. it il rea
Dnable to conclude that millions mere
are too small to he .een even
snh the telescOpe-mere meteoric
DUST There are historical instances
d supposed falls of meteoric
dust, the most remarkable. perhaps, be-
lng that Of l7S3. when Europe, part OF
ASA and part Of North America were
covered for months with dry fog, or
haze, which excited the greatest alarm.
Professor Brooks suggestion that the
sfth has encountered a cloud of me
soric dust is not, therefore, without
loundation il probability. II the re
vent blazing sunsets have really resulted
'fom such a cause, they are likely 10
conllnne, III q modified form, for sono
ame, gradually disappearing as the
aust SINKS lower in the atmosphere.
Dat, although 80 many reasons can be
Mvanced which give probability Ia
'he theory that meteoric dust is con
ssned in the production of these
Sranee sunset effects. yet it cannot be
onsidered as proved, aud some better
.sfplaaation may be offered. Whatever
Tue true explanation may turn out tn be,
however, everybody seems tn agree III
Tue opinion that the red glare i'll the
vest during the last three or four even
iuRs has been one of the most singular
spectacles beheld in the sky for many
years.