Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1898-11-05

formed, gaps are created and the entire
mass is drawn out into more extended
array. Because of these changes it is
quite impossible to predict the precise
point in the meteoric formation which
the earth will strike when it meets the
stream.
In 1888 a 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 masters
could not give them the assurance that
their fears were not we'll founded. All
accounts agree that the universal amaze
ment on the 18th Of November, 1888, was
such as the world has very rarely expert
enced.
In 1866, when the earth next encoun-
tered the Leonid meteors, the display was
magnificent, but not so overwhelming as
in 1888. Brilliant showers were seen in
the years Immediately preceding and
following 1866, and this fact is a principal
reason for expectinga display this year.
Whether we shall encounter a COM
pact column of the meteors or a compar-
atively scattered mass no one can fortell,
but that many will be seen may be re-
garded as certainty Even the precise
time when the most brilliant spectacle
will be presented is not known. The Har-
ward College observatory advises watchers
to begin their vigil about / O'Clock OIL the
evening of November IL, and keep it up
until the stars fade in the morning twi-
light on November Is.
The constellation Leo, from which the
meteors appear to emanate, rises about
1890 o'clock, so that all the meteors seen
before midnight will appear shooting up
like skyrockets from the northeastern
horizon. Later on the radiant point APP
proaches the mid-heaven i'll the early
morning hours and the tracks of the me-
teors, when traced backward, will appear
to meet like the ribs of gigantic UNI
DlClld ONGi TIC
One circumstance will be especially fa-
vorable for brilliant display; the moon,
being new, will not interfere with its
light
The meteors come from the eastward
and the earth will be moving toward that
quarter, so that the velocity with which
they enter the atmosphere will be nearly
a maximum. 1t is as if two trains NOV
ing in opposite directions should meet,
one (the earth) travelling eighteen miles
in second and the other 1.-THE meteors)
twenty.six miles in aaseeond. 49,. -.----.
The moon, too, will be involved i'll the
shower. Being without any appreciable
atmosphere, its surface will have no pro-
lection against the hail of meteors, and
the spectacle of their striking, if we could
witness it near by, would probably as
tonish us beyond measure. No doubt
large meteor, when it hits the moon, is
not only itself dissipated bat produces a
pocket of molten rock where it strikes. In
fact, the innumerable pockmarks that
cover the moons surface may be due to
the impact of meteors, and they show us
what the experience of the earth would be
but for its atmospheric protection.
The past history of the Leonid meteors
possibly predicts their future. Until the
year l26 of our era, there is reason to be-
lieve, they were free wanderers in open
space. Then they encountered the planet
Uranus and were diverted into a closer
orbit around the sun, intersecting that of
the earth. What happened to Uranus
when they met we shall never know, al
though the fact that Uranus still serenely
pursues its distant orbit indicates that that
planet was not the chief sufferer from the
encounter. Perhaps before the meeting
with Uranus the meteors formed comet,
as the Andromeda meteors did before
1872 What the ultimate effect of their
repeated encounters with the earth will be
is hardly predetermined. Every time
they are more widely scattered.
But we can not be certain that we have
yet met the densest mass of them that
crosses our orbit, and the possibility ex-
lists that they may terrify the world again
more effectually than they have ever done
before. The best advice of the astronomer
is to keep an eye on them.
The Andromeda meteors, due ON Novem
Der ~. 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 well-known GOMEZ
travelled in their track. Something won
derful happened to that comet fifty years
ago. Just what it was nobody knows
possibly a clash with an asteroid-bu
after the accident, whatever it may have
been, the unfortunate comet was found t.
have been broken in two. 1t survived tn,
separation, although its parts had beer
flung hundreds of thousands of mile
asunder, and, continuing along its forme
orbit, came back as a double comet il
1852
But when it was next due, in 1872, in
stead of the twin comets, dash o
meteors appeared in the sky, indicating
that the comets had met with another dis
aster, and that the earth had encountere,
a portion of their shattered remnants. Ii
1898 tho ft,afaorc aDnearad aooir oud /,