New-York tribune., 1884-11-15
THE NETEORS or NOTEMBER.
SPARKS FROM AN OLD COMET THAT ROLLS ARoCNi
EVERY THIErY-THEEE YEARS.

SPARKS FROM AN OLD COMET THAT ROLLS AROUND
EVERY THIRrY-THREE YEARS.
Two students of the Columbia CoHeee ochooi Vi
Mines sat up all last night III the great paper dome
of the college observa tory. They were NossIs Jehks
and Koen and they were watching, under the dilec-
ton of Proie sor Rees the November fall OF meteors
which u usually greatest on the night OF November
IL The skV was almost entirely clc1r. No heaFy
clouds were 10 De seen, and only mere ana thtre
was seen iazy mass like smoke. One OF the siu,
dents kept sharp lookout IKE a saiCL On p%oaiu %
ship while tie o.ber stood pencil IN manu-
with q large s.aI-map before INN, on zen
10 mark the course of tine meteor when II was calico
out bv his companion. When TRIBUNE reporter
first looked ior,n he cou!d distingulsn hOthih9 DHl
the dark blue vault of the sky, and the tWlhAllng
light, from the houses and streets below Dnt pres
emily the stars came ont distinctly ana soon ihe
whole SKI stud led with points OF Hghi. teTo
seemed NJ indication OF meteors suddenly hilght.
fer, spot shot up in the ana falling seemed u
disappear III the earth.
there shouted the student on the lookout.
"Weli" cried the other here Is II Fl. 49,.
"Oniy a false alarm" resumed the first, after an
instant. "SOme one threw cigar stump Cui OI
window yonder. / think."
Later in the evening the neteOrS began IN, be
mere frequent, ana some OF them "ero soh' n''
. We don't EXPECT great display tins year. said
of the students Now and then We Strike =
group of me eOroids and send them scattering III all
drrrtlous Bat il was 1866. yOn know,
wien the last big display took place. and since so
tie showers nave all been inferior. In lSoo we
shall have another display oi SIX rockets.
{" How Is the calculation made !" asked tine re-
porter ,-oo t,.,.tt. .,
"Whv. Won know .hat in 1899 Humboldt OBJ
served the shower from the Andes and recorded II.
AT the same time il seen m oihcf part, Oi the
world. In @33 there was a repetition 81 thc us
play aud the COlOred people down >onlh al lhouphi
The world was coming to. all end. Then the
scientific obsei yer. calculated that the showers re-,
Cured about every thirythrce years anh they dlh
come amin rs brilliant as ever IN l~bi lh"y were
watched for all over the world an1 calculations
were made of the orbit IN which the mcteors
moved This calculation made the period ol te-
Currenrc 3J2j years.
lust about the same time n faint comet was dis
covered in Europe and America. moving IN about
the same orbit the mrtcors and a calculation 0l
it's orbit was made simultaneously hy other asttun-
oniers than those " ho computed the orbits u tine
metpors The calculations ON the comet foNolu-
tion indicated its return u 3J1S years. Ih" other
combinations were equally close to tho" oi the
orbits oi the mctcorud' II Is now accepted 10y
scientists to bc fact that this ~ an nl comet
which has been mpN iug about inr several thousand
years. aud slowly disiuiegtatinE. Nh"u ~" "hilh
othit strike. that oi the comet ~ November, the
PARTICLES thrown On by the comet dash iuto our
atmosphere snd produce the shooting stars once u
thirtN.t' Tee years come pretty CLOSE tn t" old
romct himself aud then the sparks ate more plcnti-
iul.
"Thry strike the atmosphere at distance oi hiiy
to a hundred mirs from the chl tn. skim along Tor
hrty of trN mile and tlcu hurst ur are dissolved
Ia dust. IN AUGUST there IN u similar bat still FAINTER
sh lwrr oi still older comet. WHOSE revolutions are
placed { once IN Ia years There ~ ine one
now, clear rocket aud Tie called OUT lllr
/ rccntd 10 his com rnniun,
"iou had better wait and sce II all, he cnlled To
the reporter ~ hc WAS TctfrItlng, lie display ~
hnest about or = Ia the morning