The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-11-12
STARS WILL RAIN.
Two Great Showers Of Msleors Are
Due This Month
MOST DAZZLING DISPLAYS SEEN
SINCE THE DAYS OF '66.

Leonid Meteorswin FAN on November IS
and Those of Andromeda on November
27-.A Dazzling Pyrotechnic Panorama
Of stupendous Magnitude.
Two great meteorio displays are billed
for next month. On Nov IS and Nov
az, according to Carrot P. Servis and
other astronomers who are acting as adj
vance agents for the show, there will be.
for two nights only, "a dazzling, pyro-
technical panorama of stupendous mag
nitude, and unapproachable in beauty"
Get yonr seats early and avoid the rush.
The first Of those displays VIII result
from the first meeting of the advancing
columns Of the great Leonid metsors,
which envelop the. earth in fiery spectacle
once in every thirty-three and a quarter
years, or three times in century. The
main mass of these meteors is due In
November, 1880, but, since their array
extends over q length Of ut least e,0oO,.
0OU, 900 miles they require not less than
three years to pass the place where thsir
orbit inuersects that of the earth. Accord
ingIy astronomers are confident that their
leading files will be streaming, in hum
dreds of thousands. across the point Of In.
tersection when our globe arrives there
about Nov. IS this year. The toosin of
science has been sounded, star maps ana
directions of observers have been scat
tered broadcast, the latest improvements
in photography have been enlisted In the
service, and the astronomical world is on
the qui vivs for the expected encounter.
The other great shower occurs on the
night of Nov. ~, and will be caused by
the meeting of the earth with the 1neteors
known as the Andromedes, or Bielids
which are closely related to the famous
missing comet Of Bisla, il they are not,
in fact, scattered debris of that come
itself. These meteors were last seen In
great shower in 1885. when hugo ball
while it was filed with their dazzling
trains and buried itself In the earth near
Mazapil, in Mexico. That meteor, or
piece of a smashed comet, is now in
meteorological museum In Europe, and
the man who finds another like it, after
the shower next month, will possess
treasure for which the scientific world
will envy him.
The adventures OF the two great troops
of meteors which are now rushing rapidly
toward the earth have been varied .anI:
startling, and the future. may have still
more remarkable things IN store for them
and for us. The Leonids (thus called
because they appear to radiate from the
con stellntion Leo), hold, like the Andro-
modes, close rslationawith oometfwhich
is travelling in the game track. Every
time they meet the earth they suffer vlo-
lent perturbations.
In 1888 particularly dense mass en-
countered the globe and the result was
a spectacle that carried terror broadcast
over the world, the greatest excitement
being produced on the plantations of our
Southern states, where the negro slaves
believed that the end of the world was
upon them, while their white master
could not give them the assurance that
their fears were not we'll founded.
All accounts agree that the universal
amazement on the 18th Of November, 1898,
was such as the world has very rarely sx-
perienced.
In 1866, when the earth next enscun-
tered the Leonid metsors the display was
magnificent, but not so overwhelming a.
In 1888. Brilliant showers wero seen in
the years Immediately preceding and fol-
lowing 1866 and this fact is a principal
reason for expecting display this year.
Whether we shall now encounter . conn
pact column of the meteors or compara-
lively scattered mass no one can f0retsll,
but that many will be seen may be re-
Qarded as certainty. Even the precise
time when the most brilliant spectacle
will be presented is not known. The
Harvard college observatory advise watch
ers to begin their vigil about Nov. II and
keep it up until the stars fade In the
morning twilight on New. IS,
The constellation Leo, from which the
meteors appear to emanate. rises about
TO- 80 O'Clock, SO that all the lmeteors seen
before midnight will appear shoeting up
like sky rockets from the northeastern
horizon. Later on the radiant point APP
proaches the midheaven in the carly
morning hours and the tracks of the
meteors, when traced backward, will ap-
pear to meet like the ribs of gigantic
umbrella spread over the earth.
The Andromeda meteors, due on Nov.
~. have had even a more remarkable
career than that of the Leonids, although
their history is comparatively brief. They
were never seen before 1872, although
PREVIOUS to that time a well-known comet
travelled in their track, something
happened to that comet Hfty
Years ago. Just what it was nobody
knows-possibly clash with an asteroid
but after the accident, whatever 1t may
have bean, the unfortunate comet was
fonnd to have been broken in two. 1t
survived the separation, althougs its
parts had been flung hundreds of thous-
ands of miles asunder, and. continuing
along its former orbit, came back asa
double comet in 1859.
But when it was next due, in 1879, in
stead of the twin comets dash of
Ymeteors appeared in tie sky, indicating