Wadsworth semi-weekly dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1899-1904, 1899-11-14
SHOOTING
STARS.

OlC vi INC SIdiluCSt oPCCldClCS SNCI
afforded by the heavens. one of the
grandest natural spectacles Of all his
tory will be Witnessed tonight and
tomorrow night at about the
hour of IL.
This spectacle is the great fall Of
metorites known as the Leonids. 1t
occurs only once in 80 years.
Two thousand million miles Of
meteors will then flash past the earth.
The meteorites will touch the at
mosphere Of the earth and become ig-
nited by the rapidity Of their flight.
Countless millions OF them will fall and
they will appear red. white, orange,
green and all the colors Of the rainbow.
The fact that they ignite and dissolve
| on contact with the atmosphere is all
that saves the earth from destruction
by them.
1t has been only within this century
that astronomers have discovered the
cause of the great November meteoric
showers; moi was It until Tempel found
that the Leonides are the fragments Of
a former comet that astronomers were
assured of their periodlcity. Now,
however. predictions concerning the
time when they will revisit the earth
can be ventured with a great degree Of
exactitude.
For some years past the astronom-
ical world has been prepared with the
visual and Photographic appliances for
the possible return of the great meteor
ic showers. The critical time from
November IL to 18th passed each
year. but the frey myriads that trans
form the sky during their flight came
not, and no indication appeared Of
their approach.
This year they are fully due. and de-
spite the moonlight that will come with
the dusk and linger till dawn. one Of
the most marvellous sky scenes Of the
century is probably at hand. 1t is an
occasion that a enlist with good re-
suits the small telescope as we'll as the
large, the humble $50 camera as we'll
as the $4,000 Photographic lens. and
on which naked eye observation can be
valuable supplementary aid. The chief
evidence available as to the orbit Of
the vast ~enlongated swarm Of meteors
is the routes Of those members of 1t
that reveal their existence by a lumin-
Gus streak, when lgnited in the earth's
atmosphere.
Professor w. H. Pickering of Harv-
ard observatory considers that the
direction in which the greatest
number Of shooting stars are likely
to appear in evening hours Is stewards the
west and southwest at moderate attitudes
and in the morning hours in a less
scattered area south Of west For
cameras, however, (Which It is to be
hoped will be numerous and vigilant in
this land Of successful photography,
the zenith and radient points yield the
best results.
1t is between Gamma and Epsilon in
the constellation Of Leo. from which
the Leonides. or shooting stars take
their name. Though the actual en-
counter with a dence portion Of the
swarm lasts a few hours, small tempo
rary showers Of falling stars. large fire
balls, sometimes decorating, often with
lingering trails. may be looked for on
several nights.
Should the earth meet only a few
score Of Leonides, such as are visible
every November, there are grounds for
supposing that the larger planets
Jupiter and Saturn, especially in recen.
times. caused the rhetoric orbit, thus
hindering Of delaying the periodic en-
counter for n or two years. In the