The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-13
| SHOWER OFMETEO
1t is Due Tomorrow
Night or the Next
Morning.
IT COMES EVERY 80 YEARS.
The First One in 1888 and
the Last One Was Just
After the v ar.
IT COMES EVERY 80 YEARS.

Tomorrow night and Wednesday
morning is the time set for the an.
pearance of the Leonid shower of me-
teors. These meteors are the rem
nants Of Temples comet which burst
probably from the intense heat gen
Grated by its rapid movement, some
5000 years ago. The orbit of this CO.
met was so long as to cause it to take
80 years to return to its starting point,
and as the fragments follow the same
course as the comet, this shower is to
be seen once every 33 years, the last
display coming in 1866
Astronomers are in some doubt as to
the magnitude of the shower this year.
1t was noticed in 1866 that there were
not so many meteors as in 1893 and
as the body of fragments has been
mixed up with the Orbits of Jupiter
since their last visit to the earth, and
as Jupiter is given to causing q dis
turbance with anything which comes
within his reach, he may have broken
up the procession to some extent. There
viii undoubtedly be shower. but
whether there will be thousands of the
naming bodies seen in an hour, or on
ly a few hundred it is hard to saw
At the least, however, the display will
be well worth witnessing, as it will
surpass. even a total eclipse of the sun.
or the finest exhibition of the aurora
man has ever witnessed.
Another thing which will affect the
brilliancy of the display to some ex-
tent is the fact that the moon will be
very bright at the time when the show
er will be at it's height, at one o'clock
on the morning of the 18th. This will
prevent observers from seeing some of
the smaller meteors, and will make
others seem less bright
The Leonids are so called because
they seem to come from the constel-
lation of Leo, which, when at its zen
it'll, is a little south of the celestial
equator of Worcester On this night,
however, the constellation of Leo will
not rise from the eastern horizon I'M
til 1890 o'clock.
writer in the Scientific American
suggests that observations be kept up
until dawn of Nov. is, in order that
there may be no mistake in the time
The fact is that astronomers are not
positively sure of the date this year
though most conceGe to Nov. IA and 49,
The most brilliant display visible in
Worcester will probably take place
very early in the morning of Nov. 10
And every watcher on that night or the
night following, viii have the consola-
ton of knowing that there are hundreds
Of thousands of other watchers, scien-
tific men, all over the world, who are
doing the same thing.
The other appearances of this shower
during the nineteenth century were not
heralded with so much certainty as
this one. In 1893, when the first came,
very few people knew what it portend-
ed and great was the fear that the
world was coming to an end. In 1866
it was just after the close of the civil
war and the fright of the negroes in
the south when they saw this wonder
full display was appalling. southern
planter in telling of the scenes that
night, said
Il was suddenly awakened by the
most distressing cries that ever fell on
for mercy I could hear from most of
the negroes on the plantation, amount
ing in AL to 600 or 500
while earnestly listening for the
cause, l heard faint voice near the
door calling me. | arose, and taking
my sword, stood at the door At this
moment l heard the same voice be-
seeching me to rise and saying; oh, |
my God The world is on fire.
II then opened the door and it was
difficult to say which impressed me
most, the awfulness of the spectacle or
the distressed cries of the negroes.
Upward Of 100 lay on the ground, some
speechless, but with hands appraised,
imploring God to save the world and
them. The scene was truly awful,
for never did the rain fall much thick
err than did the meteors toward the
earth"