Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-11-18

|
OF the earth on its orbit is only % kilo-
meters second forward. Consequent
~ when shower of them approaches
the earth in the direction opposite to
its course the initial speed is - kilO-
meters Il second. When they follow on
its course they gain 16 II kilolneters
a second ON it, their mean rate of ap-
proach being 80 to 40 kilometers q
second. The friction engendars a tenn
perature of 5000 degrees Celsius, sub
ject to which they burst into flame If
under these conditions their substance
is not vaporized they pass through and
beyond the upper strata of our atmoS-
phere and pursue their proper course
around the sun: but, as Il rue, they
are vaporized, in which case The vapor
minglcS with the atmosphere to fall
later rs met" olic dust. In this manner
we come in contact annually with LAG
milliardS of shooting stars. which add
considerably to the earth's substance.
! Every shooting star presents the most
Interesting spectacle on the night sOf
Aug. 10. and frequently also on the two
following nights. If TIL night is clear
and the observation is not disturbed by
moonlight, one may count hundreds and
even thousands of falling stars during
these three nights, all coming apparent
ly from the same direction, the constcl-
laiion Of Pcrseus.
The fact that the earth takes three
days TO pass through the shower of
| shooting stars affords Il measure of
! NO l,o
more SO that they cross our orbit ut
right angles to the carths course. Their
orbit is Il long one, and corresponds
with that of the great comet of 1862,
which reached Il distance of 7,10l.0O0,-
900 Kilograms from the sun, approach
ing it at intervals Of 121 years. This
immcns" orbit appears to be full of
shooting stars. Another date equally
interesting for the observation of
shooting stars is November II. On this
date they are oven more numerous
than on Aug. 10. An interval of SO
years they fall on this date us thick rs
snow flakes. Two hundred and forty
thousand are estimated to have fallen
en- Nov. II, 1888; the phenomenon re-
peating itself in 1856, aud we look for
! ward to its recurrence in 1899. The
November shooting stars appear to
come out of The constellation Leo. The
course of this group corresponds to
that of the comet of 1886, near TIL" or
bit of Uranus, a$ Il distances of $50
kilometcrS from the sun, which it APP
proaches every 33 years. In the year
126 A d. this comet. under tho attrac-
zion of Uranus, was detected from its
original course and made Il member of
the solar system.
The dates above mentioned are not,
however, the only ones on which shoot
ing stars in considerable numbers may
be observed. Among others Nov. u
may be mentioned, for on this day i'll
1872 and again i'll 1885 at least 1O0,
900 shooting stars were observed. I'm
Rome, where l was on the latter date"
! says Flammarion, 'ithe phenomenon
excited great int rest, and even the
pope was evidently not unmovcd, for
some days later, Wh;n / had the honor
of being received by his holiness, his
first words were: Did you s." the
! golden shower of Dana"? The shower
Of fixed stars Of 1872 was entirely I'M
expected by astronomers. They had
been much disturbed by the loss of
Bcla'S comet, which after its appear
ancc, steadily made its appearance at
intervals Of six and a half years until
| 1916, in accordance with its computed
course. On this occasion, while purSu-
ing its course on the night of Jan. 13,
it split into two pieces, diverginS from
each other us they pursued their diff
fcrpnt courses. Both comets were Wis
ible upon their return in 1873, but they
were pale and faded and more than
100000 kilomcters apart. 1t was the
last sight From that date the Bella
comet has never been seen again. 1t
is vanished, amIihIatcd, burst up into
shooting stars Were it not so it must
have bisrctcd the carth's orbit Oh Nov.
9th. 1872. and actually have come into
contact with il. In its st al there APP
pnarcd n!rxprctcdly the above men
toned shower of stars. and the CON
chsion was that these small bodies
were the rcnaims OF the y III comet Il
conclusion mqueSjonably confirmed
by tie observations Of November 81,
1885.
This then, is one OF the latest con-
illusions Of science: Shooting stars arc
the fragments of shivcred comets.
Comets, in fact, are comparatively
ShOrtliycd bodies, few of them persist
ing beyond Il few thousand years, and
tho smaller ones for Il much less period
only, while the duration Of q planet
like our earth extends to millions Of
years. The great comets which fright
ened our ancestors would doubtless be
found to have lost much Of their bril-
liancy if we could see and identify
them; for during their course around
the sun they continually throw of
vapor and fragments and are thus con-
stantly subject to diminutiOn.
Ozaukee Farmer Burned Out.
Port Washington, Wis, Nov. r.
Louis Hiebner, farmer Of the town Of
Grafton, lost his house, barn, eight
horses, all his cattle, stock and outbuild-
ings by fire last night. The loss is total
there being no insurance. The origin
of the fire is not known.
George p. Matthes, for several years
Milwaukee correspondent for the Chi
cago Times, and at one time city editor
of the Sentinel, has resigned to become
CORRESPONDENT for the Chicago Herald