The Opelousas courier., 1890-07-12
TR0UT SHOOTING STARS
nryr,r,YoN METEoRS FALL ON
THF EARTH EVERY DAY.


snauer of Shooting Stars-The
s Remarkable Adventures OF a
pianet-Terrilc Aerial Veiocities.
professor George NJ. searle, in arecent
ssss,,re at Washington on meteors and
ssr relations to comets, stated, reports
- ar of that city, many interesting
s&6namical facts. He began by making
rsa remarks regarding the frequency of
Miuary meteors and especially their
sspr frequency toward morning, be-
S.s NJ that time we are, as it were, OF
IN Of the earth, while in the even
zTr e are at its stern. It is estimated
sIst ayer ten million meteors fall on the
IN il ske course of the day visible to
- ysked eye-that is thirty to sixty an
S.,r-on an average, at any n place.
ss.s,yat;ons have shown that meteors
srsl With immense velocities. They are
snsIIv 4 much as fifty miles away from
n spa. indeed, fifty miles above the sur
~ IN liz earth, which shows that the
.mosrhsre il higher than has been com
~~sIg believed, for they derive their heat
sra i;uht from combustion caused by
.5y cantact with the atmosphere. A
seetaor has been observed to come from
~ pseifc to the Atlantic in about two
nrtes-that is at the rate of about
Ssafg miles a second, and that was not
IN sn unusual velocity. 1t is evident,
shen. taas meteors are really planets, but
s,ast of them are very minute. As they
garSct BE- seen to reach the earth their
N.Y. III estimated by the light they give.
Tgslge foot-pounds of energy is equal to
I'M lsObt Of i standard candle. On this
80 he weight of common shooting
~ has been found to vary from one
eTsia to n hundred grains. There
Emo about fifteen million grains in a ton
Is Il nossible that ten tons may fall on the
sagt6 III d day, but even if a hundred
Ggns should fall every day it would, it is
eSamated, only make a layer n inch
hiek Id d thousand million years. Of
tcurse there are some larger ones called
sMoIites, and these have been known to
sMl to the ground in considerable num-
hars. but the largest ones actually reach
lie the earth have not weighed over 500
Nonn1s, though they probably weighed
ner6 when they entered the air.
Meteors have been seen to fall in show
s 1t various times. Perhaps the most
remarkable in this century was one OF
November IL, 1868, in which $50, 000
Meac counted by an observer at Boston In
liz space Of six hours. These meteors
tssmed to diverge from q single point in
s sky, and this is always the case in dis.
plays of this kind. As n old lady re.
marked, the sky appeared like a big UNI,
bella. This the effect of celestial per,
i~peetive and merely mean that the me
lsoEs are all travelling in parallel lines
8hs display was found to have occurred
previously in 1893 and was traced, wher
ktEgRtion had been called to the subject
NJ fiji back IS the year 902, appearing at
Intervals of about thirty-three years, there
hg records of q large number of its
occurrences since that date. 1t was founc
list they could be accounted for only b.
) swarm Of meteors travelling in an orbi
kfoand the sun ,seequiring thirty-thre'
sears for its complete circuit and the pro
eession OF swarm being 8 o long as to re
0xire two or three years to pass q givel
paint. On the strength of this conclu
pn Professor Newcomb predicted
gepihtion Of this shower in 1866, which
#as observed, with repetitions in 1856
md 1868, all being quite remarkable
dough not so noticeable as that of 1888
The next step IN the matter was tn
~aiscoyery that the comet of 1855 movet
il shs same orbit as these meteors ant
thai the slighter showers which occur II
August Of every year move in the sam
rfbit as the comet of 1862.
The lecturer then proceeded to give a
account Of the remarkable adventures 0
Hielas comet. This comet was discoy
esed early in the century and found +
move i . six-year orbit, and was SO OBJ
safTed during several returns. In 184
Il vas found to have separated into tw
comets, travelling side by side. In 185
ee double comet was again seen to re
kRn. In 1859, circumstances being an
favorable, it was hardly expected to b
Hssn, but in 1855, though CAREFUL
looked fol-, no trace OF il was found
NOW the orbit Of this comet intersec'
Eat of the earth, the junction befn
shout at the point which we occupy j
tAe end OF November, and, in feet, tina
ssn feared that a collision might occu
etHeen BieIais comet and the earth eve
6nse the time that its orbit had first bee
ssiculated. In 1872, as we crosse
this point, d shower of motors was aetr
observed coming in the same diret
si6n and following the same course 40 ia
comet itself would have done had it bee
efs. So confident was the astronomt
Kinkerfues that we had actually collide
Nith the comet itself that he sent to Pog
500. III Madras, the following telegram
probably the most remarkable that eve
crossed s wire: ssBiela touched eartl
November ~. Search near Theta CeI
Search being made. a comet vi
ARtNallY found near that point, but ba
H. prevented sufficient observation
aefeEnine its orbit. III does not 81
aH probable that it was the princip1
II The former comet, Bis il wa n
81 fhe right part Of its orbit; the COM
sAeala havs been gone by some coneit
sszhle time earlier, but that there Is lit
gaqbt fhst this comet forms part OF Z
ena system, and indeed il is more tia
aa9btful Il Bielass comet, as such, -
ea exists. The probability is that q
hHle thing has been broken up into
aHnEie stream. Besides those me