Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-08-16
DEBRIS OF A COMET.
FLAMMARlON, THE FRENCH ASTRoN-
OMeR, ON OUR METeORS.
What Has Been Discovered by watchers
In Observatories ns to the Great
Meteoric Belt.
New York Heraldl

PARrs, August 1.-THE following letter
has been addressed to the editor of the
Paris edition Of the Herald by NJ. Camille
Flammaron. the astronomer:
Everybody has noticed the shooting
stars during the month of August every
year from the 9Th to the 14th. Especially
during the nights Of the 10th and 11th the
sky is filed with a great quantity OF these
meteors. As this season is usually one OF
the warmest and most productive OF
thunder-storms in our latitudes, popu-
lar opinion has associated TINS ce-
lestial phenomenon with heat electri-
city. but this coincidence is entirely ono
of chance. These currents of shooting
stars can illuminate the atmosphere during
an icy night of winter just as well as du-
ring the warm evenings of summer. More
over the aerial heights traversed by these
meteors are often exceeded. A hundred
thousand meteors are perpetually passing
through temperature colder than that of
the polar regions. Besides. we know to-
day that shooting stars come To us from
out of the depths of celestial space, anu
we can determine their courses throughout
the boundless ether.
'.This years observations were not inter-
fered with by light moon. IA very often
happens, but the sky was closed during q
great part of the nights. Nevertheless.
the nights of the 9th and 10th were very
fine. Ii only requires a quarter OF an
hours observation 10 determine the wealth.
II these nights starred with metcors OF all
sizes.
THIS YEARS METEoRs.
"They were far from being as numerous
as at the time of certain memorable mete-
oric showers like. for example, that OF No
vember 27. 1872, when the stars fell IRON
the heavens like snowtlakes, but the
special characteristic these silent lines oi
fire traced across the sky was that IN pro
longing them from their point OF depart
ure it could be seen that all or nearly all
their lines emerged from the same spot,
This point was situated beyond the iln-
mense alignment limited by the stars re
gasus and Andromeda In the constellation
of Perseus. The shooting stars OF August
10th did not all start from this point, pu'
| they arrived at IL and reached II 10y pro-
| longing their traiectories. They enter our
atmosphere. and most Of them go out o'
it again at the spot. Where they
| appear there is no star, neither Is ther.
one where they disappear. There are al
| those points merely very small particles
sever milimetres in diameter and weigh
ing certainly less than gramme. slhey
| are all dark IN color and only visible on ac-
count of the friction with the layers OF at
mosphere that they pass through. al
| though these layers are extremely rarified
| Before penetrating our atmosphere thel
! were invisible and after gong out OF II
! they become so again.
DEBRIS OF A COMET.
These celestial particles which eartl
meets at this time of year are dsbris OF
comet which they follow in space through
| the orbit as that of the comet OF 1867
which goes off at distance Of seven mil
| liards of kilometres from the sun an'
| comes back to us once IN one hunure'
| and twenty-one years. Moreover, I'M
swarm. resembling swarm OF mes
! appears To extend and TO be scatter
ed about for the entire length of it
| orbit and 10 take up an immense space II
| breadth. for the earth meets it once yea
| and requires over three days aud thre
| nights to cross It, although travelling q
| the rate of 100000 kilometres an hour
which il seyenty-fve times the rapidity o
a cannon-ball. The earth crosses thl
swarm nearly at right angles. II isproba
| BILE that the earth met with the denses
part of this swarm in 1913. for during tha
| year tho number Of shooting star
was 10 ali hour, nearly, two
| minute. The numbers observed IN suDse
quent years reached only 30. 10, GO. and u
and for several years not more than ~ a
hour were counted. The height OF thes
shooting stars, determined by two obser'
ers making their observations from point
q certain distance apart, was found to b
I23, 900 metres"
| MIR. Denning. the Bristol astronomer
who has paid great attention to the obser
ystions, thinks that the point of emanatiol
is shifting. and this makes the theory NOR
| complicated.