Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-08

Billions of Them Fail, but Comparatively
Few Reach the Earth

Billions OF Them Fall, but Comparatively
Few Reach the Earth.
Only the other day TEE STAR printed an &C
count of a meteorite which fell near Beaver
Greek, Washington. It was reported as burst
ing with several sharp reports in quick success
sion, the first explosion being the loudest. The
noise was heard twenty-five miles away,
and was mistaken for thunder or q blast of
dynamite. Following the reports WINS whizz-
ing sound. Several fragments Of the missile
from the sky were picked up.
at is a mistake to suppose that meteoritss
burst, in the proper sense OF the word" said a
scientist to STAR writer. "But it often
happens that they are broken TO pieces on
striking the atmosphere Of the earth. This
may seem surprising, but let me call your at
tention 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 q solid. Now, the
meteorite is moving at q tremendous rate OF
speed. IL small, it is set on fire in an instant
by the friction of the air. and, after glowing
for moment brightly, is consumed
On any night this summer you viii see
shooting stars now and then. They are
meteorites, which, on coming into contact with
not surprising. inasmuch as they approach the
planet on which we live at q speed which often
attains forty-four miles a second. Bv causing
the destruction Of meteorites the atmosphere
serves as protection for people on the globe,
who would otherwise be peited by such missiles
to dangerous extent 1t is estimated that not
less than 100000 Of them. big enough to be
visible to the naked eye, strike the earth every
twenty-four hours.
"By contact with this planet the meteor
lles are raised to a temperature which
reaches from 900 600 to 1000 600 degrees
high enough to consume the hardest Known
substance almost instantly. Thus only those
OF large size reach the earth before being en-
urely burnt up. The greatest number of such
bodies can be seen just before daybreak. be-
cause by that time We are on the front side of
the globe as 1t moves through space The ele-
walton at which most of them are visible has
been found to be between forty-fve and eighty
miles, very few being seen at greater height
| than 100 miles
1T is believed by most astronomers that
some very large meteors have entered our
atmosphere and have passed out into SPACE
| again, their great momentum 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 recent instance
the correctness Of this theory has found striking
proof. That was the case OF the comet of
Biela- 1t was discovered in 1896, and was
again observed in 1882, 1916 and 1852. In ls45
it had split into two parts, and in 1872 il failed
to appear when and where il should have done
Evidently 1t had been smashed up, and predic-
tlon was made that there would be a great me-
teoric shower composed of the remains of the
lost comet. This prediction was fulfilled.
Certain groups of meteors move in ellipti-
cal orbits around the sun Occasionally the ear tn
passes through their clusters, producing what
are known as meteoric showers. Such
showers occur annually from the 9th to the
18th Of August, and there is q similar
display in November once every tbirty-three
years. The stream of the August meteors ID
estimated to be from 10000 to 10, 900 .00t
miles thick The earth. though travelling with
a velocity of 1000 900 miles day, is immersed
in ii for several DAYS.
1.-The fall OF meteorites 10 the earth il some.
times accompanied by great display of light
occasionally illuminat ting an area of many thou.
sand square miles. when such an event occurs
at night, and by loud detonstious, SO great In
some instances as to shake houses and brighten
men and animals. The explosions are
caused by the breaking up Of the meteor
Ordinarily you will find that such
meteoric bodies are coated on the outside with
a black substance, which is the effect merely of
fusion Of the superficial material by great heat
piece of Biels's comet actually picked up
in Mexico in 1872. at the time Of the shower O!
its remains. Naturally it is considered very
interesting.
'Such great interest is taken in meteorites
that all of those collected have been carefully
catalogued They mostly composed Of iron,
with usually percentage Of nickel and cobalt,
and sometimes copper and tin. 1t is customary
to saw them into slices, which is a very
laborious process, for sale or for ex-
change among museums. Sometimes the
slices are prettily polished, or the cut
surfaces are etched with acid so as to expose
the crystalline structure. This structure il
in no two such bodies exactly the same. and
the differences are thought well worth studying.
Attempts have been made to counterfeit,
without success