The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-11-11
BIG NIETEORIC SHOWER
fT Is DUE HERE FRIDAY NIGHT
Wt1CH or FOR IT.
o,iv ,,,e Advance Guard of what Is Com
ing Next Year and the FOLLOWING 'e"''
Discovered by Humboldt In l'9o'

The study of astronomy is most inter-
esting, and those who are in any way
Informed in that scientific study VIII DC
on the qui vive next Friday night lor
on that date the sky may be expected
To be furrowed with numerous shootihs
stars. This phenomenon will also appear
ny, vear and even more abundantly III
,.os ard IT'S maximum will be reached
in 1893. These shooting stars appear 10
emanate from the constellation Leo, not
far from the star Zeta.
FIRST OBSERVATION.
The first scientific observation OF the
nhencmena was made ~ Humboldt anu
Bonpland. at Cumana, America uurne
the night between November ll'h uhu -
1893. A veritable shower OF shoo'i"s -
hogan TO appear before midnight anu
aco,,ired increasing intensity unui
o'cIock in the morning and then Gimili,
ished by degrees till daylight. bonp'"'a
assert that there was not space "
,he sk,, eoual to three diameters ol '"o
moon that was not seen at every ihs'""'
filed with shooting stars. ,h,s
A. stated above the main body OF this
Celestial army will reach MS IN 1879 Se9
astronomers are preparing TO STUDY cioaS
" what passes through the SKY OF
day next. 50 as to complete their , ~ WI
edge OF one of the most curious pn's.
OF Interchangeable relation pct" zen S'-'0'
ing stars and comets. 80. .t;s
on the night of November j. l'''' ''''S
same phenomenon was OF -erFc''
LIKE sERPENTs.
The meteors left in their track phos-
nhor escent trains. which sometimes W
sinuous. like serpents. Maiy an'Vh7 ~"
appeared as brilliant as Jupiter anu
ms Shortly before Go X IN TIE lhoi
,,. Of the 19th the point Of radiation
or divergence was 10 the west u ~
oTnstellation Leo. not far from Reguius'
purinp the next hour the point III que'
lion remained stationary in the same par
of Leo. although during that houI nc
,,,s,eIiation rad ira geled al out ib'''h
dcorees westward The mctso"s were 90"
alono the east coast Of America from 'ne
Gulf TO Halifax from o'clock at H'sn.
I'm sunrise. and at some places even a.
late as o'clock A. NJ
MANY OF THEM.
The number, according to professor
Olmstead. was only two-thirds Oh tne
total. which should have been ee', anu
for the visible hemisphere SooV. lhls -
innate means 34.640 shooting stars prI
hour. As the phenomenon lasted seven
hours. the number when appedleu "Do'0
the horizon exceeded zioVo.
Drrinr the succeeding years more shoot
in,, stars were noticed at this time OF the
wear than on ordinary nights, butslh
relatively considerably less numbers
THEIR RISE AND FALL.
Tho swarm which gives birth 70 these
through gUafe
along a very-elongated eihptlcM orpi.'
in an opposite direction to the earth
through space. and meets our planet, III
'front.' during the morning Of November
14fh the earth az the moment being ID
motion toward the constellation Leo
IL is much wider IN extent than our
nlanet. which passes through 1t as a Dull
let passes through a cloud OF gnats com
ing quickly along. The corpuScles mSe1
us face tc face, and their traJectOrles IN
our atmosphere are parallel. Thelr ap-
parent divergence from point CT emu
nation IL only the effect Of perspective.
the spoed Of the earth on November
18th I'm its passage round the sun, Is
20 O0O meters per second. That or inc
swarm OF meteoric corpuscles Is 42"9
meters. The speed Of their meeting.
therefore. is 1900 meters.
40 FIXED POSITION.
The meteoric ring which this pheuome-
non produces does not keep a fixed posi-
ton in space. The point Of meeting be-
tween the ring and the earths orbit or
IS astronomers say, the bow of the ring,
moves little 10y little along the terrestrial
orbit in the same direction as the earth
movement. The result is a progressive
delay in the dates II is caused by the
action Cf the large planets on the SUD-
stance of this ring.
10 is sometimes asked whether We might
not meet in this mass. a bolide. an alp
a mountain large enough 10 crush part
of this mundane sphere Of ours. This Is
unlikely. but not impossible. The largest
of them DO not seem 10 exceed few
grammes in weight.
The study of falling stars, although
comparatively new 10 science, IS one OF
the most interesting. u is worthy OF
admiration that by the study Of such fu-
gitiye traces as these light meteOrs in our
atmosphere science should have arrived
at results so precise regarding the inyisi-
be orbit TO this cosmic dust in the
realms OF space.
THIRTY PER HOUR.
This dust, perhaps, plays an important
part in the universe IL has been calcu-
lated that for n given spot the average
number Of falling stars Is about thirty
per hour, which gives per day seven
millions and half for the whole world.
The number OF telescope meteors must
surpass four hundred millions day
Does II not account for the fact that
space is not absolutely transparent Tor
us in receiving the light Of remote stars
asks Professor Flammarlcn.
In any case these cOrpuscles, falling
i,ceesantlv upOn planets and suns. are
gradually Increasing their volume.