The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-11-18

| tifif fattl flAl 'Nv NtN ~ 49, -
yAte1 ~ un. ~lhisnse boat 81, sgnrfl'I ,.ius
bold . vivid dssofiguoh - to uI''. sn''n'
attracted attention M Iptop" 900 ..n"' a.
optht- tom many ypint~ W ih" '"H' '1l
tnenl bslpsd ~ -tpnl''s Hul'ty. d. w
2 Ito bifasl'f 81 Ne NttIal HiaintY Nl-' lin
4" fsors a ml-eum ,ha, 80, 'r. III
do,lusd hat while there ml.ht ln,r t"sh "T.i.
siS t.opla N la-t 'iu"s Whp n"h"''u n W"
gSsl' VIZ pa2. %h"@",dsa'"ny y ricnce- nado a
s,nilir remark IN "a. -.rg" J'at 80. ,.tn.
iucut.Ig on q report II a." faIi,ns "' al a"'"''"
IN Franco ~ he satnr T.st
q. i-ls tso students - the University .!
Go'unssn tBr.ndes aud s"n%hHst.. m"n, We
ssiHthtH."S.o 'S y a Gsiip'on nl.hi BE- ~dctrralscd
station IN SSSw YORK md from u1siber 10 no
b.. n. such obpsfvstIons prove mat inc
sIdicn sppclrsnce 81 a meteor tises ilaSs ~
70 one sain1fsd miles ard syycytt hat go
mc,-or ltsol' ia an extra terrestrtAl body lto
a. sm o,in uI1 "a an ss ottls .SsSt he ,in sad 'ha,
has eoms so Close to the -arth Ms To- hs drawn
FROM That orbit aud comrsicd 10 faD to the
It. With increasing speed until the material
OF IL. mas 1, al burned out.
Mgtor. move about the sun In orbits 'Tyt
SUI 'H 70 ' S.TiasS 40 .r. NED d" %itb tR.m When
y. ,h'ns q the plfpss H. .h ',SnS G /. noyss
} "a spilcre $3.50, 400. ooO,ooo mile, p d4ams,srl
,he c%,les,i-i .yas.s :@elo Smpi ,indeSd' yrn,Ir
N sEs f .nr, and d'T Tier us s."%tFcIli,e s"'' f2;cn W;
add tic hundreds Of a.teroId, or mInor. rlfnfts
! ,rcrhSps there may oe a thou.a9d pt ,hS,n'
on IN" CONTRARY, flied with metoorlo hotics
hy millions esd thousand, Of u!ll.ons Ever,
dlv thc earth In IL movement aionS rs or'lt
, some eighteen miles rer second meets Wi'h
fifteen 20. twenty millions Of meiEorl'r.,
We must %linqsine ihe Gs!G,'iHi s so ,n neg on %,
the average, about $50 miles apart. They var"
greatly in,,lc oseth4t ! reduce the ordlnar
larger than Tie head 4 a Sommon IN Mary
larger ones there orc, FOL they have jalen iron
The elrth a. a%erollte. or bnli les. pdthe unGon,
mu,eIr1s and Il If calcUl. ted that Oh the whole
earth several GandTed fol- Sn,, ysg"bEI b no fsSw9G last-
ter on tho otacr land. the o%rdIalY shot',
ing star, never reach the earth a" so"i
iato gas, b!rned W. as 1t were. before they
touch is surface.
( HiIs mass Of mater MGovtns IN 'PS'e m,
Grth's attraction aud enters tho atmcsrhers
with a high ve,ocity, thirty miles per f9r%p1'
Fraction az inst the air turns tig ensrsy, q the
| body's mot ~ lpto the energy u heat alI lstl.
When The vel9eIty Is y great q tltrty NIL Her
NETS away into gss The .sm2I'st bodies orr
almost instantly consumed. Tbs larger onts
melt from. the surfac' inward toward ths ID,
a mass TO be consumed during thelr flight
| through the atposphere. The centres Of such
largo masses viii rsns.n co,d. tat toe t.lntera-
are wll,. bot. Pis6e, Of ths phly nse,a india,
mptsorte were picked NJ coated With ice.
There Ia a distinction 10 be drawn among
such bodies simply on account OF ihs.r sue,
then. There are more important differences
due to a diaersnce Z tmgi! nafer;I ah Ssr CtiGia,
! large masses, that have been seen 10 foil ere
masses OF stone. while II very few-+npe 4
rsr cent. Of ths number: pethapSIre hrHfInr
analvzec. ard T. 4. very significant that not =
! single new chemical element has been found
I'm any one Of them. although about twcnty,-
live OF the known clements have been separated
This shows. In 80 far, that the u%niverN' Ia one a.
10 its materials The a~erolltei have an origin
which ia certainly eXtra,torrestrial Not one o.
| them las ever touched the earth. before u;
fail. vet thcv are all composed Of terrestrial
elements, well known TO rs We tave ifI7hn
as shooting stars are II similar composition,
though II s n suggestion difficult n demon
dissipatsd during their fan. such observation
a. have been made Of TIE spectra ~ shooting
stars do not G@ntT9 ;i.I IN ,His nos :onpc Tn, f,l IL;
III" apparen. brtlllanov Of n, brlehte't
Stars or pisucts some o, the shooting star.
are as brilliant ~ the brlghte>i stars-a1
s.I,ss; E SSHaI. Or , 1He,'T is, GS ri.h! o' 1 4Eeir are
ssointte brnIiancv il perhaps about that Of an
ordinary .ncandescejt electric lamp
nls snHG BY Z t sts'f mi n = q 5a, tent i.nt v s9 x
times they fall In thousands as In the case
reported by Humboldt In 1890 IN li29 there
was an immense shower in the United States
At any one place something ike q quarter Of
q million shooting stars We're seen. nterH,iy
filing The SKY G.S Ti irs. VIZ ,hi, r tb"y ieII Ia q. FAST as
ifiaa1nTt f nhsr: y are not not snow y The rssIecs in
-. = N 49, ,r.,a tw,3 sratA --lth terror
4 cooler Observer i. said to have looked OF the
wonder; he thought the sly would hc empty:
sine IL was noticed that tie me'eors Il ls9s
did not. fall at random. Their tra1l. all d.
from a spot within the constellation leo, They
are now called, for thla reason, ~Iconid2. ipSt
9 sgther sweTrnsa are called Andromeds, 'r,oI'1S;
the paths o; all these SHOOTING stars seemed
L. diyerge from one point when 'he paths "cro
then their ,eal paths in space were parallel
and ali passed through a certain area, Past
1 psd d., Of x siW IN u 'N YYls c&c|TIssf Ts IN q2e WON,
with Adams, lie verrier and S"NM,1reli
a great part Of our present kno"."t.e Is
due found that meteor showers corrcsp1nd,-
with few exceptions. everv thlrtv-thrce or
thirty-fo years since the year 10 81? There
IN = Gico orbit Of It's ovr ard Nj, orbit Inter,
sected the earth's, orbit at to lta..e occu led
I h. the earth nu Nov. Is wren. VIC NPTtOT
ia,ss was at that particular ONT Of Y orbit
a: tho tine that the Earth wch tierr. iNov. "a
then we mlgl cxpec. a shower. THIS actually
cc"irred on nearly al possible occfS!on. every
tl!-tv-three years By Il IL noticeable that
In 1888 and In i7G0 rs. well ~ ut other times
thee are no records ~ slch 4 shower,
A great shower was predicted Tor the ye1r 1904.
therefore and the shower punctuallv took
place The meteors fell az the rate OF several
hundred PER minute and made \ great Spec'a-
clio some OF the single shooting stars wcro
OF great brilliancy-aS bright rs Venus In
iSgg another shower was due, but although
moro mrteors than the average uunber FOR
a November night we're observed there wos no
great shower -nothing like tho showers OF 1909.
iss3 and lses.
II was, therefore, supposed that pcriurbn-
tons OF the meteor swarm Ivy the great planets
had occurred 1.-THE matter Is not susceptible Of
exact calcllation, and the shower was looked
for in 1909. therefore
The history Of ~,neteors is closely bound
nm with that ~ comets. TIE CONGESTION Ia
close. Even In 1919 Il was rec cnlye1 rta' he
swarm OF November me'eors revolving about
the sVu was. In itself, not unlike a comet an
invisible comet. 10 he sure. The August me
tnors-the Pc spids. which rad.Ites from 4
srot in the constellation PerSeus-nre eS well
marked a swarm ny TIE NCvcnbe- motors
themselves. The Aucls, msteors, nlsp, 'pOve
nEr,t Tho suu "a ~ ~elli''l-ll o-tit whose shape
and size werc duly cQlC'l7tet. Corp1rIng
tris orbit with the calcVl1ted orbits Of known
comets the very rnrlsrka'le fact energies
that the August mete1rs move IT. exactly the
slu,s orbit A. tho hight comet o' 1872. As