Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-11-01

Earl of Rosse Chen Lord Oxmantown)
Joined me at the telescope, and. after
brief interval we decided to cease
our observations OF The ncbulae and
| ascend to the top OF the wall of the
great telescope, whence q clear View
OF the whole hemisphere OF the heav-
ems could be obtained. There for the
next two or three hours we witnessed
| a spectacle which can never fade from
| my memory. The shooting stars grad
ually increased in numbers until some
times several were seen at once. Some
times they swept over our heads. some
times to tho right, sometimes to the
left, but they all diverged from the
east. AS the night wore on the con-
stellation Of Leo assembled above the
horizon. and then the remarkable char
acter of the shower was disclosed. All
| the tracks Of the mcteors radiated from
Leo. Occasionally luminous trains
would linger on for many minutes after
the meteor had flashed across but the
great majority OF the trains in this
shower were cvanescent. 1t would be
| impossible to say how many thousands
OF meteors were seen, each one Of
which was bright enough to have ellc-
| tied note Of admiration on any ordl-
nary night"
THE SHOWERS SO YEARS APART.
This shower was bent seen In Europe
| in 1866. but in 1867 it was repeated and
| the observers In the United States were
treated to magnificent spectacle. The
researches OF Professor Newton. Of
New Haven, and OF Professor Adams,
OF Cambridge, England, and others,
| havc demonstrated that there Is NOV
| ing about the sun, rs a. center Of at
traction, n great bunch or group of me-
teors. This group takes thirty-three
| and one-Quarter years to make q COM
Plcte circuit. It's orbit plane is inclined
to The earth's orbit and SO related to 1t
that the meteor group crosses the
carth's orbit Mt that place where the
earth comes about November 1915. The
| enormous stream has n small breadth
| In comparison With It's length. DR..
Storey has calculated that, ir we rep
| resent the orbit OF the mctcors by an
| eclipse whose length Is seven feet then
| the meteor stream will be represente
| by thread OF the finest sowing silk
about O. foot and a half or two feet
long, creeping along the orbit.
In the heavens this eclipse has nm
axis over 1850. 100000 miles In length. At
nphelion the meteor group goes out be-
| You'd the orbit of the planet Uranus
The real breadth of the stream cannot
be less than 100000 miles. and is prob
| ably 300 600 miles In 1866 the earth took
| five hours to go through moving at tho
rate OF about eighteen miles second.
| In 1867, when the earth returned to tho
crossroads, tho meteor stream was
still going by, and America especially.
| mad n splendid view. Even in 1868 the
stream had not gone by completely.
| There are mcteors scattered all along
the orbit path OF the group, but there
appears to be only one group or bunch,
| we therefore see meteors every veal.
about November 1916, but the grand
shower comes only when We strike into
| the punched stream.
SCIENCE OF THE SHOWERS.
The calculations of the great French
astronomer Leverrier appear to indi-
cate that in 126 a. D., the Leonids Gas
the swarm is called, because the me-
| teors seem to radate from Leo) were
moving In an orderly manner around a
great orbit which would take them past
the carth's orbit out almost to Jupiter.
in their nearest approach to the sun,
| and then they would reccdc never to
be seen again In the Solar system. But
In that year Q26 a. d. the planet
Uranus was near the swarm as they
passed his orbit. and he by the power
OF his perturbng attraction pulled
them back and caused them to pursue
smaller orbit. the present path
Uranus captured for The solar system
this interesting group OF meteors The
group is subject now, in It's motion
around the sun. to disturbing effects of
nnllS- from The other PLANETS, Juniter
Saturn and the earth These pulls
make the accurate calculations difficult
and produce little uncertainty as to
the times OF the showers. \ few weeks
after the 1856 shower of I.eonds the
astronomer Schiparelli of Milan pub
lishetl paper on the August meteors
Tor Pcrseids because their radiant spot
Is in Pcrseus). He showed the wonder
ful fact that n bright comet was NOV
Ing In the same path as the August
mctecns. little later Prof. Oppolzer
Of Germany published his orbit of
Temples comet Of 1896. Then 1t was
seen that 4 remarkable coincidence ex.
listed between the orbits of the Novem-
bcr mcteors and TcmpeT's 1866 comet
the orbits were practically identical"
Several years later the metcoric shower
radiating from Andromeda was shown
10 be following in the path OF Riela's
comet. Later yet the April mcteors
We're found to be associated with a
comet. -Four such remarkable cases
seem to prove physical connection be-
tween comets and meieors. Many
astronomers hold that these meteor
swarms are simply the result of comets
going to pieces under the action of the
sun. during their successive returns to
perihelion. The carth's atmosphere.
Ball remarks, acts In burning up tho
cometary pieces. like screen in pro-
tectinE us from bombardment If tho
air were less dense and thinner many
| more meteors might get through to tho
earth. No meteortes have come to us
| from any of the great showers.
PREPARATIONS BY ASTRONO-
MFRS.
! Prepare tons are being made in MANY
OF the observatorics OF the world to OH
serve the expected grand display Some
| Continued on Eleventh Page.)