Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-12-02

Erom the New York Herald.
Professor H. 4. Newton, of Yale, has pro-
pounded some very interesting theories con-
corning the meteoric shower of Friday night
last. He says that the telegraphic reports in
dictate that the display was visible to the in
habitants of more than quarter of the globe.
The shower was observed in Teheran. Persia,
which Is seven hours east Of New Haven, early
in the Afternoon, and he says 1t could have been
seen at Yale college but for the superior light of
the sun. The display in Asia was unusually
brilliant. as was also the case in Naples and
London.
WRECK OF A COMET.
The display, the professor says, consists of the
fragments OF Biela's comet, the breaking up of
which was first discovered by Edward C. Her.
rick, then librarian of Yale college, and Francis
Bradley, of New Haven. in 1876. Since their
discovery OF its disintegration the comet has
rapidly broken up and is now In millions OF
fragments Hundreds of thousands Of years
ago the comet travelled among the fl xed stars,
but its path and that of the sun eventually CO.
ineided so nearly that BY the heat Of the sun
cracked and broken of. These fragments, to-
gether with n light vapor created by the SUMS
action were, in turn, repelled from the sun and
the comet and gradually fell i'm line behind the
comet and formed its tail. In this state the
comet continued to circle about in its orbit
every six and twOthird years. until about
1910, when it was observed to have become d.
vidcd into two parts. This process has since
continued until the comet Is now but mass OF
fragments, which mcthOdfcal1y continue to
move around In the orbit of the comet and
once in six and two-third years the earth moves
through this meteoric belt and we are treated
TO an exceptional display of shooting stars,
which, in their rapid movement through our
atmosphere, take fre and give out light, frag-
ments often falling to the earth. The display
usually lasts two or three hours, and varies in
brilliancy, the shower of 1872 being so intense
that between fifty thousand and one hundred
thousand stars could have been seen by q single
party OF observers.
FRIDAYS DISPLAY.
The display of Friday evening was merely
the end Of the main shower. Robert Brown
jf., OF the Yale Observatory, counted forty-tour
stars in twenty-four minutes shortly after six
o'clock. Some were quite brilliant and left
trails flight behind them. At halfpast nine
the meteors were less numerous, but party of
three observers estimated them at 1 90 per min
ute, while between q quarter past ten and half
past tan Prof. Newton counted thirteen stars
All of the meteOrs observed appeared to radiate
from the constellation Andromeda, and rs the
observer can see only one-sixth or SO of those
actually visible, on the basis OF Mr.. Browns
observations at six O'Clock probably about six
hundred and fifty meteOrs could have been OBJ
served by sufficiently numerous party of OBJ
servers.
The last important display was in 1872, and
The next. Prof. Newton says, Will be in 1892,
but ne adds that, without doubt, observers may
see occasional meteors during the coming week,
as the November display generally continues in
greatly decreased degree until December :, land
On one occasion has been known to continue
until December "a.