The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1893-11-02
MISSILES FROM THE HEAVENS.
Billions of Them Fall, but Comparative
Eew KeaCh the Earfh.

Billions of Them Fall, but Comparatively
Few Reach the Earth.
1T is a mistake to suppose that mete-
orites burst in the proper ems Of the
word" said a scientist to a writer. but
il often happens that they are broken to
pieces on striking the atmosphere of the
earth. This may seem surprising, but
let me call your attention to an analogy.
Strike the surface Of water with your
fist, and, though a fluid, the resistance it
opposes to the blow seems almost as
strong as if it were solid. Now, the me-
tCoritC is moving at a tremendous rate Of
speed. If small, it is set on fire in an in
slant by the friction of the air, and after
glowing for a moment brightly is con-
sumed.
ION any night in summer you will
see shooting stars now and then. They
are m]eteorites, which on coming into
contact with the earth's atmosphere are
set afire. This is not surprising, mas
much as they approach the planet on
which we live at a speed which often at
tains A miles a second. By causing the
destruction of meteorites the atmosphere
s,rves as a protection for people on the
globe, who would otherwise be pelted
by such missiles to a dangerous extent.
1t is estimated that not less than 10, O00,-
Q of them, big enough to be visible to
the naked eye, strike the earth every 24
hours.
by contact with this planet the me-
teorites are raised to a temperature which
y,a1n1n- frDI, y 900 nOn b. 4 nOn OAN l.
grces-high enough to consume the hard
est known substance almost instantly.
Thus only those of large size reach the
earth before being entirely burned up.
The greatest number of such bodies can
be seen just before daybreak, because by
that time we are on the front side of the
globe as 1t moves through space. The
elevation at which most of them are Wis
IDLE has been found to be between 45 and
50 miles, very few being seen at a greater
height than 1G0 miles.
1t is believed by most astronomers
that some very large meteors have en-
tered Il atmosphere and have passed
out into space again, their great mo-
mentum being sufficient to take them
away from the earth'S attraction. What
these flying bodies are is a question that
has been much disputed, but it is con-
sidered most likely that they are the
debris of broken up comets. In one re-
cent instance the correctness of this the
DRY has found striking proof. That was
the case of the comet of Biela. 1t was
discovered i'll 1926 and was again OBJ
served in 1882, 1915 and 1852. In 1916 it
had split into two parts, and in 1872 it
failed to appear when and where It
should have done. Evidently it had been
smashed up, and prediction was made
that there would be a great meteoric
shower composed Of the remains of the
lost comet. This prediction was fulfilled
Certain groups Of meteOrs move in
elliptical orbits around the sun. Occa-
s~ionally the earth passes through their
clusters, producing what are known as
mcteoric showers. Such showers occur
annually from the 9tA to the 18TH of Al
gust, and there is a similar display ip
November once every 80 years. The
stream Of the August meteors is est
mated to be from 1000, 900 to 10. o 900
miles thick. The earth. though travel
ING with the velocity of 1000. coo miles a
day, Is immersed III it for several DAYS.
The fall Of m~eteorites to the earth is
sometimes accompanied by a great dis
play Of light, occasionally Illuminating
an area Of many thousand square miles
When such en- event occurs At night. and
with loud decorations. 50 great in some
instances as to shake houses and fright
poo,""on and animals. tEN o~~n'0. e