The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-13

chiefly to cloudy weather in this country
it was seen only to the best advantage in
Europe. At the end of another thirty
three-year period on Nov. 10, 1899, we may
expect a recurrence of this grand phe,
nomenon, and the few meteors which we
may notice during the next few nights
are but the vanguard of this vast swarm
which will storm the earth in body three
years hence.
1t is natural for one to inquire what
these bodies are. whence do they come
and why they recur in such great num-
bers at regular intervals of thirty-three
years. There are revolving around the
sun not only large solid masses, as the
planets, but also vast aggregatons of
matter in the form of dust not sufficiently
compacted together to be visible, but still
moving in an orbit like planet or a
comet under the laws of gravitation.
The individual particles of this dust
cloud are themselves very small, not so
large upon the average, perhaps as a
grain or wheat, but moving as they do in
the vacuum of outer space they suffer no
resistance to their motion, and their We
locities become very great. Should our
earth at any time during it's journey
around the sun intercept one of these
result, for these small particles Of matter
impinglng upon our atmosphere with a
velocity of more than 100 times that of a
rifle ball would generate enough heat by
friction to vaporize them instantly in a
flash of light. 1t has been shown that the
November meteors, as they are called, are
nothing more than such a vast dust-cloud
revolving around the sun IN about thirty
three and one-fourth years in a very ell
liptical orbit whose perihelion lies within
the orbit OF the earth, and whose aphe-
lion lies near the orbit of Uranus. This
dust-cloud is drawn out perhaps into a
rather elongated form, like a flock of
birds, along one-tenth its entire orbit, in
deed, the annual recurrence of some of
these meteors on Nov. 10 proves that some
of the meteoric particles are distributed
all along the entire orbit.
Now, 1t so happens that the path of
these meteors crosses the earth's orbit at
one place, and that Nov. 13 is about the
date when the earth arrives at this point
of intersection. Usually the earth inter-
cepts but few meteors at this point, but
once every thlrty-three years the great
body Of this meteoric dust-cloud passes
across the earth's orbit at the same time
the earth itself passes through the same
point. and a grand meteoric shower is the
result. But It takes three or four years
for the meteoric swarm to pass a given
point IN It's orbit, ana thus IL VIII be seen
how we may have several minor showers
preceding and following the main one by
successive passages of the earth through
the intersecting point while the meteors
are passing.
The point in the heavens from which
the. meteors appear to come Is called the
radiant point" and In the case of the
November meteors II is located in the
Constellation Leo within the group of
cfn
the paths OF these little bodies are all
parallel they appear to diverge in differ
ent directions according TO a well known
principle Of perspective. This same eff
feet may be observed by looking upward
at drops of falling rain or snow.
1t is pertinent to ask II II is not posi-
bic that there may be very large masses