The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-11-12
SUCH AS FELL IN 1893, 1866
, OR 3 A. NJ. THE BEST TIME TO
SEE THE CELESTIAL ROCKETS.
EARTH MAY PASS THROUGH THEM
Professional Astronomers Making Great Prep
aratons to Photograph Them, But
Kodak Properly Handled Will
Give Good Results.

Although not sanglrine i'm their eXpecta
tions nor confident i'm their predictions the
astronomers are permitting themselves to
hope for a repetition this week of the
famous meteor showers of 1888 and 1906
Those events afforded the most magnif-
cent displays of celestial fireworks which
it has been the lot of man to witness
since the present century came in. F'ol
Il period of several hours on both OF these
occasions there was scarcely Il moment
when at least one falling star was not
strealling the sky, and for nearly on
quite an hour these Were so abu !dlnt
that the heavens seemed to us like fire.
There was no blast of wind. The sparks
fell as noiselessly as snowf9ke5. The
flashes were not so vivid as lightning.
But in the plentitude of its pyro;eC hnics
the SGmaner thunderstorm was utterly
eclipsed.
There is scarcely night in the whole
year when one may not see am occasion
al meteor silently stealing across the sky.
And even this phenomenon, if fully UNI
dersto0d, is an impressive spectacle. A
bit of stony or metall.c matter not bigger
than ones fist perhaps. invisible and in
cnceiyably cold. straying about in inter
stellar space for untold ages, and coming
no one knows whence, abruptly enters The
carth's atmosphere, and immediately its
surface becomes heated by friction to i'm
candescence. The glow can be seen fifty
II seventy-fve miles away. The velocity
of these little Migrants lis often thirty or
forty miles Il second.
But besides the widely scattered and
infrequent specimens just referred to
here are great swarms of tiny bodies
moving through the solar system in orbits
whose elIiptical form reminds one OF the
paths of comets. From this and other
facts the astronomers have concluded
that collection of aerolites is really the
wreckage Of Il comet-a bunch of loose
ly aggregated objects, ranging in size
from a grain Of sand to a glacial bowl
der, and gradually becoming more and
more separated from one another.
Like comets, these SwlI1ns come in
toward the centre of the solar system
periodically and, after describing Il
sqafp curve, fly off again into space.
Their paths intersect the earths orbit
here and there. and if the earth reaches
such Il junction whlle procession of
aerolites is passing a number of tie Aat-
ter become entangled in the atmosphere
and terminate their existence in mo-
mentary lAaze of glory. Their crumbling
remains then tall to the earth's surface,
and if anything more than dust is then
left of them they are likely to be found
by accident years afterward.
Several of these swarms are well
known. One whose path crosses the
earth's orbit in August is so well stretch
cd out and the ellipse which it follows
S so small that "a shower-a mere sprin-
kle-is seen almost every year in conse-
quence. These particular meteors are
called PeGseids, because they seem to
emanate from the constellation Oh Per-
seus. The Lyrids come from Lyra at
another season, and the AndTomedes
from Andromeda. The meteolts which
are looked for next week proceed from
the constellation of Leo and are called
Leonids. This swarm is still so compact,
comparatively speaking, that&ihe earth
goes through the densest part of it in a
few hours. Moreover, its orL.t is so vast
that the procession comes around only
once in thirty three years. There are
reasons fol'' suspecting that the remnant
of the SWARM has become so elongated
that more than year is needed for the
whole OF lit to pass the crossroads. The
advance guard was detected last Novem-
ber, and it is deemed possible that the
rear may be encountered next autumn.
But the bulk OF the army lis looked for
this year Enough of the component
bodies have doubtless strayed away from
ALL II, 10 -
meet them either a day or two before, or
day or two after, the denser part of the
tream is met. The watcher will proba-
bly, experience some minor rewards
therefore, even ON ''oh nights.
leo, which is easily recognized by its
Sickle, with Regulus I'M it's hanue, rises
in the northeast just NOW at mGdnight
or a little later. Meteors that shoot up
ward from it might be seen as early as
II p. m., but not until or a. IN. will
those which dive downward be visible, so
that the latter half of the night is the
>est time to hunt for Leonids. At a.
m. the Sickle will be on the meridian
lust south of the zenith, and if the great
est abundance of failing stars should oc-
cur at that hour the skies would look like
fiery umbrella. DIR. tombstone Stoney,
an English expert, has made cafeTul colli-
putatiOns, however, which lead him to
think that the earth will pass through
the thickest part of the SWARM at l a.
m, 10Th meridian time, on Thursday,
November 16. But professional and ann
ateur astronomers are advised to main-
tain a watch mot only ON Wednesday
night, but also ON Tuesday and Thurs
day, especially after midnight.
Among the uncertain elements in the
outlook is THE doubtful accuracy of the
calculation. DIR. Stoney may be wide of
the mark i'm this respect. He himself
offers the estimate with diffdence. Then,
too, lit is possible that the main show
may not come until next year. 1t is
ALSO among the possibilities that the earth
will not pass through the densest part
of the swarm at all, but above or below
it, so to speak. The weather may pre-
vent observation, even though other cir
DE favorable, and at best the