Arizona republican., 1898-12-31
LOST, SPRAYED OR STOLEN
Ths Andromeda Meteor Shower of
 This Year.

!, The failure of the meteor shower which was expected with considerable
 confidence to put in an appearance or the night Of November 23 is puzzling , the astronomers more than a little The display which occurred early in tn,
 mornings of November 13 to F was al that had been anticipated, inasmuch as I-he experts were well aware that those meteors whose paths seem to emerge from the constellation of Leo were not
 due in great numbers until next year But there was more reason to hope for a reappearance of the Andromedes, in
 asmuch as their two most famous dis plays have come at intervals of thir-
 teen years, and that period has elapsed
 since the great shower of November 27,
 1885.
 The comet of which the Andromedes
 are believed to be the wreckage has had
 a peculiar history. | was discovered | by an Austrian officer named Biela in
 1926, and had 9 period of about six and
 half years. It returned in 1892, but
 was not seen in 1899, for some reason. i When it came back, in 1S46, it gave the
 star-gazers first class surprise. It
 was split in two, it's halves travelling along side by side only about one hun dred and fifty thousand miles apart This distance in celestial space is very small. What had happened to the comet no one could say, but it's division naturally created a special interest in its return in Ioo2 Grave doubts were entertained whether it would come in toward the sun again al all. However, the comet arrived on schedule time, both parts putting in an appearance.
 
 was then found to be nearly two mil lion miles,
 Since that year Biela's comet has not been seen, as comet, with certainty. Twenty years elapsed without any trace of it whatever. In 1872 there was magnificent display of mete0rs, which seemed to proceed from the con stellati0n of Andromeda Their paths were found to coincide closely with the orbit of the lOsl comet Moreover. if the comet had preserved it's integrity 1t would have been due that autumn. Hence, it has been generally believed by astronomers that the Andromedes represent all that IS left Of one-half of the comet. What has become of the other part no one undertakes to say with much confidence. In 1885 a come: was seen for single night that was thought to be identical with One-half Of this interesting object, but this sus- picion has never been fully confirmed.
 On November 27, 1885, there was a second display of Andromedes, nearly or quite equal in abundance and beauty to that of 1872. Much less striking re- cufrences of me5eOrs emanating from the same radiant point were reported in November, 1879 and 1892. The diff ference in abundance between the two sets of showers may be easily eX- plained. The orbit of the Biela comet Cand of the swarm encountered in lS72) intersected the earth's orbit at a certain point in space. This crossing was located where the earth is in No | Vcmber. But a six-and-half-year per iod would bring the central part of the | swarm back into the earth's neighbOU- l hood alternately in November and May. ! so that in 1879 and 1892 the remnants i of the comet were at the junction when | the earth was around al the opposite 1 side of the circle, fully 1855, ,000, 900 miles 1 away. Of course, nothing could be | seen of the swarm in May under those | But six months later, and fully seven years after the big dis play, tho earth would again be at the intersection of the two orbits, only to find that the main procession had pass ed and only few stragglers were loi- teTinG in that vicinity
 Now, this year was the one which should have afforded a good show, be- cause the earth and the wreckage of the comet were both due at the cross ng at substantially the same time To De sure, the attractive influence Of Jupi- ter had apparently shifted the path of the swarm little n 1892 and altered |