The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1884-12-06
MET EORS.
Their Origin and ausc-Whcre to
Look for Them-HistorlcaI Notices
of MrtROrfsNM

L"ok for Then-HistorlcaI Notices
OF McteOrtacs.
Almost any clear night when the
moon is absent, few meteors may be
seen shooting about through the sky
They look like stars, and, with good
reason. are often called shooting stars
1t should be admitted that the real stars
are at very great and mostly unknown
distances, and in general, never appear
to move with respect to each other;
while meteors, or shooting stars, are
never seen outside of our atmosphere
But they originally exist entirely out
side; being small solid bodies of metal
lie or stony matter floating through
space, in orbits around the sun, like
planets. In this original form they are
called meteoroids. And when the earth
meets or passes near them they are at
tracted by the earth with great force
and enter the atmosphere with amaz-
ing velocity, which develops heat SO in
tense as to set them on fire, and they
burn with most brilliant light, thus
giving them a star-like appearance.
They generally burn up and vanish
while they are yet high up in the sky.
Their visible paths are often only few
degrees long. Indeed one is occasion
ally seen without any apparent motion,
because it moves right towards us.
Some Of the larger ones burn longer,
with greater light, and leave 81 reddish
train behind them, which is the red-hot
ashes left streaming through the air,
and gradually disappears on cooling.
Others, still larger, with u brilliant
light, nearly reach the earth, and are
called tire-balls. Some of these
bodies probably of still greater size
fall to the earth and penetrate the
soil without being entirely consumed.
Such bodies have been seen to fall and
taken up while they were still hot.
Others have been heard and found be-
fore they got cold. Such bodies are
called meteoriteS-meteoric stones, and
sometimes aerolites--stones from the
air. Some IRE much smaller than ones
hand, others as large as good-sized
rock, weighing several hundred pounds.
A very singular meteorite was found
many years ago near the village of Tue
son, Arizona. 1t was removed to the
Smithsonian Institution, at Washington,
in November, 1868. Its form is that of a
ring, about four feet in diameter. One
side is much thicker and heavier than
the other. Its weight is about fourteen
hundred pounds. Meteoric stones have
thus been deposited in many of the
worlds museums, and are valuable
scientific curiosities.
These minute planetary bodies wan
dcring through space around the sun,
are much more numerous in some
places than others, occasionally form
ing collective ring, in some parts of
which great numbers are met with.
And this accounts for the extraordinary
meteoric showers on record. | suppose
nearly everybody has heard of the won
derful moteoric shower which occurred
carly ir the morning Of November Is.
1881. 1t seemed like all the stars of
heaven were increased in brightness
and falling to the earth. The alarm
which it caused was very great. Wonder
how many people would be scared by
such an exhibition in these latter days!
A similar show. though not so great,
was witnessed in 1799-just thirty-four
years before; and another still less,
though very considerable, in exactly
: thirty-thrce years afterwards, viz: No
ycmbcr IS, 1866. But it was much
more prominent in England than in
America.
Sometimes large meteoroid strikes
the atmosphere with such violence as to
explode with loud noise, and break in
several pieces, which fly along in their
separate tracks. A noted example of
this kind was seen by many persons in
this State Mt nine o'clock in the evening
of December q, 1876. When meteor
tics are analysed and examined with
microscope, they are found to be COM
posed largely of iron. mixed with other
substances. all of which are known to
exist on the earth, but in different pro-
portions of combinations. So that q
meteorite, as mass, is different from
any other body VIC know of, although
of the same materials differently put to-
gether. Besides the group of meteor
ODDS which the earth passes. or pene-
trates, near the middle of November
each year, there is another which we
pass about the 10th of August. when we
may expect that shooting stars will be
more numerous than they are in ordi-
nary clear nights.
yNaAsery ations for . number of years
agnst meteQrs generally