The herald., 1898-11-11
since the extension of the car line is in need
of greater care.
THE NOVEMBER METEoRs

THE NOVEMBER METEORS
What to Expect and How to Observe
the Phenomena
Will there be shower of meteors on the
morning of Monday, November 18th, visible
in California? The question cannot be
positively answered owing to our imperfect
knowledge of several factors that will enter
into the production of the next Leonid
shower of November meteors. We now
know, beyond any reasonable question, that
the great meteor stream through which tho
earth passes thrice each century, is following
the path of TempePs comet, whence we in
fer that it is composed Of the disintegrated
materials OF that comet, which have been
strung along it's pathway.
Temples comet moves in a long, clliptical
orbit around the sun, at it's farthest point
being about 1O0,000,O00 miles beyond the
orbit of Uranus, and at its nearest point
q revolution once in thirty-thrce and quar-
ter years, consequently at every third revo-
luton it slips a cog, so to speak, and the ap-
parent interval is thirty-four years. Thus
the grand shower Of 1893 was succeeded by
shower of 1888 occurred. This in turn was
followed by the notable shower of
1866, which, however, was only vis-
BILE in the eastern hemisphere, to the
great disappointment Of American observ-
ers. But an unexpected shower, brilliant,
though brief, was seen in America by those
who had faith enough to be on the lookout
in 1867.
More surprising still, a very fine shower re-
warded vigilant star gazers in 1868, though
the meteors were less abundant than on
the two previous years. These showers
continued, with diminishing displays, down
to the year 1870, when they ceased. In
view of the 33-ycar period, the next grand
shower is due in 1900, but as numerous beau
tiful meteors were seen on the year preced-
ing the extraordinary showers of 1888 and
1866, we are led to expect similar forerun-
ners this year.
To astronomers these phenomena are evil
dence that the meteor swarm consists of an
enormously long, and comparatively slim,
band or stream of meteors, whose advance
guard reaches the earth's orbit at least u
year before the occurrence of the critical
shower, while the rear OF the wonderful
stream is still far beyond the orbit of Sat-
urn, and will not reach as till the earth
has completed several revolutions, and re.
peatedly passed through the stream on four
or five successive Novembers.
There is another element of uncertainty,
however, and that is, we are in some slight
doubt whether the grand shower will occur
in 1899 or in 1900, consequently we are not
quite sure ii this year Of grace, 1898, is the
nearest preceding year. Even if we were
absolutely assured that) this is the "pre-
|ceding" year, there is still considerable un.
certainty where the main shower will strike.
This doubt arises from the fact that the
meteor stream is not of uniform width, nor
of uniform density. In 1868 rather fine
showers were seen in three widely separated
localities, namely: In northern Europe, in
South Africa and in the Mississippi valley,
while comparatively few meteors were seen
in intermediate areas.
After the approaching series of showers we
shall have more abundant data upon which
to base future predictions. 1t is best, there
FORE for faithful and enthusiastic observers
to indulge in very moderate hopes, remem-
bering that the unexpected may happen,
and on the other hand, the expected may
fail to materialize.
As the earth intercepts and absorbs such
an immense number of the Leonid meteors
on ench tri-centennial visit to our portion of
the solar domain, is there danger of ex.
hausting the supply, thus eventually de-
priving us of the grand spectacle of period
ical shower of stars? Prior to November,
1865, after the showers of 1866 and 1867 had
been observed, and the observations from
different parts of the earth had been COM
pared, Proctor estimated the space occupied
by the meteoric bodies, provided they were
evenly distributed from the comet head to
those seen in 1867, at 80, 600 000, GOO 600 0OO,-
900 (thirty-fve millions of millions of mil
lions) of cubic miles. Suppose that thirty
million cubic miles of meteors should be in.
tercepted by the earth annually; on that
basis it would take a million of million years
to absorb the stream. In the presence of
such dimensions and periods how insignifi-
cant is the speck of space and the moment of
time occupied by man, and yet how august
is that intellect of his which reaches out
from this speck of earth to measure bound
less space, and from this evanescent point
of time essays to count the cycles Of eter-
nifty!
While the earth is slated to pass through
the meteor stream on Monday morning,
November 14th, there is more than possi-
bility that a few stray meteors from tho
Leonid radiant may be seen on the mornings
of the 18th and of the 10th, and careful
observation and record of these will be
much appreciated by specialists in this de-
partment of astronomical research, as it
will enable them to gauge the thickness or
breadth of the great meteor stream at this
particular stage of its Journey
The radiant whence the meteors proceed
is in the constellation Leo, which rises about
l:30 a. NJ, but the meteors are usually most
abundant between the hours of and 5
a. M. A small percentage of the meteors
will have bright neuclei showing various
beautiful colors, and will produce long, yell
lowish streaks, and leave trains that will
remain visible from few seconds to sew
eral minutes.
A committee has been appointed by the
astronomical section of the Academy of Sci
ences, of which Mr. B. r. Baumgardt is
chairman, to gather the observations of its
members and digest the reports it receives.
But as this article may reach the eyes of
many non-members who would like to CO.
operate with the work of that section, T
should be glad to receive voluntary reports
from such persons, sent care of The Herald
office, and I will see that they are utilized
in the interests of science, and that due
credit is accorded to the observers.
If convenient, observers should go in pairs,
one person to keep vigilant watch of the
sky, and the other person provided with
ooro ol, nod 70 roto tho n L.