The Worcester spy., 1898-11-06
METE0RS.
Two Displays
This Month.
WHAT CAUSES THEM
Earth Plows Through Ring
and Pushes Aside Bodies.

and Pushes Aside Bodies.
If the calculations are correct of those
who keep tabs upon the movements of
the heavenly bodies, two brilliant dis
plays of meteors are due to take place
this month. 1t is never safe to say for
a certainty just when we are to expect
special activity among the falling stars
or when u comet is to be seen, for the
reason that astronomers have always
found great difficulty in setting exact
dates for these phenomena.
Assuming that this year every detail
of computation and of estimation has
been correct, then we are to expect
the first choice display of heavenly
fireworks a week from tomorrow night.
Many will remember the remarkably
brilliant display of meteors last year,
The night was cold-and clear, and the
little luminaries darted through the
sky with scurringly lightning rapidity
A party of five local enthusiastic stu
dents of astronomy and of astronimical
phenomena closely watched different
portions of the sky, and together saw
no less than 40 meteors while the dis
play was in progress
But don't expect to see this meteoric
display too early in the evening this
time A few orphan meteors may dash
across the sky during the early even
ing, but they are simply stragglers, that
coud not wait to join the main process
Nrhi oh
midnight. From then until morning
the display will be at it's height During
those hours the meteors will be play
ing a delightfully."- merry game of tag
with each other, darting off and dis
appearing with equal rapidity. OF the
two displays, this one for brilliancy
and spectacular effect will be grander
The meteors will move faster and be
more luminous.
From November % to 27 are the days
set aside for the second exhibition. Here
the most meteors can be seen early in
stead of late at night, and the head
quarters of activity will be about the
constellation Audromeda., The meteors
will be more numerous, but they will
be smaller and will not move at so high
speed
Interesting and brilliant as will be
the two displays this month, they will
hibition of meteoric activity that we
are to expect a year hence. If the per-
iod of Intervention is constant, we are
to expect next year, not a. meteoric dis
play, but a meteoric shower. Tt was
observed in 1900, in 1888, in 1866, and ac-
cording to the law of mathematics
should occur again next year.
Every one has seen meteors, and YET
how few really understand the meth
xaiY
mathematics, of the meteor.
The meteors which are to be seen g
week from Monday, form, under natur-
al conditions, ring of small bodies re
volving about the sun. 1t has been es-
timated, from the amount of light they
give when burnt by contact with oul
atmosphere, to weight from a few
grains to few ounces. Thus the bod
les are very small as compared with the
planets of the solar system. And for
tunate indeed this is, for us mortals
else we would suffer seriously from the
heavy bombardment of these celestial
missiles.
The number of little bodies in the
ring is far beyond estimate. The shape
of the ring is known to be elliptical
and has an extreme length of about
1900 million miles, or twenty times the
distance of thu earth from the sun.
The bodies making up the ring are not
distributed uniformly, as is ascertained
by the 'bunchy' tendency observed in
places. Once every year the earth
plunges through the ring and entraps
whatever bodies are in it's path. Once
in SO years it plows through the big
gest bunch in the lot and then the me-
teoric display becomes meteoric
shower. 1t is for the reason that the
earth will be quite close to the bunch
this year that the display is likely to
be more brilliant than usual. The di-
rection in which the meteoric bodies of
the ring are turning is opposite to that
in which the earth is moving. Thus
they enter our atmosphere with their
own velocity plus that of the earth.
SO they move with great rapidlty an
Initiating space at the average rate
Of As miles per second.
The second display of meteors is also
due to the earth plunging through
ring of small bodies. But this second
ring is smaller and has an extreme
length of only about 50G million miles.
The meteoric bodies are not well scat
tered over the ring, ind few are seen
except when the leading bunch is en-
countered. This may be expected this
season. Unlike the other ring consid-
cred here the bodies move in the direcA
ton that the earth is moving in their
revolutions about the sun. So their We
locity when the earth goes through the
ring is simply the difference in veloci-
ties. Hence the resulting terminated
bodies move very slowly, and are en-
countered by that part of the earth
which happens to be turned away from
the direction in which the earth is NOV
ins.
Both Of these collections OF bodies
are connected with comets. and are,
without doubt, the scattered remains
of comets which have broken up either
wholly or in part. In the case of the
first ring, a comet still exists which
precedes the thickest part of the
swarm.