The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-11-11
BOMB EN- OF
THE STARS IS DUE
Great Rae,eorc Showers This
Week.
MAY HAVE GOTTEN LOST.
The Leonids. According to Calcutta.
.ions OF Astronomers. VIII Take !,
TunbI- Tuesday Ni.i,-prcpa-
raiions far the Event.
CAMBRIDGE. MASS.

4
most Interesting astronom cal question
siasi now Is wnedilsr The great meteoric
shower which WAC due liz NoveTnpcr OF
last year, ont ws1ich did not then APP
pear, much 10 the disapao.n tment OF as
trouafunrs ali oyer the world, is TO DC
given up rs iosf. or whether II has merely
been 0otdyeG z year tesyond the caiGI-
lated time. and viii take place III its full
glory next week. The attitude OF the
Harvard College Observatory III tbs mat
ter Is presaniy typical of that taken az
most asronon,ica.l statons. Nhiic AZ
Knitting that tho chances of the shower
appearing are less than a year ago. Pro-
tesscr Pickering and h.s ASSISTANTS nave
not by any means given NJ nope, ana
though The PREPARATIONS when Gi~te pee.i
made for recording Il are less extensive
than they were iasr November, Lhey are
still sufficient to take tuli advantage o. Inc
situation in case the shower occurs.
The November shooting stars are Oh
course. recognized institution. ana are
due on The 18Th ana lita OF the month
aEcn year. They are known as the Leo
r.ds. from, the position of their central
point In The constellation OF the ltioh' s@io
the number seen in ordinary yeas VIOLA
rnnst from 30 or 100 TO SOD or Les. ne itsLs
ward Observatory nolcd some sf' iol
example, las: Noren1oer- Bnt what Was
Tuesday u gllt, is a recurrence OF the
magnificent displays which were seen IN
178s. 1885, and loe6. when not hundreds oul
THOUSANDS and tens Of thousands shoA
into tbs earuh's atmosphere IN 1esa d
competent observer in, Boston calculator
s that the number Tad amounted TO 2i2nt''
seeming to the eye TO fail as th-ckiy as
the flakes IN snow Storm II may e1s.lS
be seen how such a d sp.as would rank
10. ii pr
most spectacular OF the celestia! ft1eno-
mena.
THE INTERVAL
The interval between these great me-
teor!c showers, as may be noted from
the dates just given. is lhIty-three years.
But ille n. lure Of the shooting stars Is
such that they are pscui- arly Liable TO per-
,iIrba.i ous. SO cd ed, caused by the at
traction of the p.anets. Within the last
lsoo years, Indeed. they nave BEEN swung
out of ons Orbit ani into another by the
Influence Of the Planet Uranus During
the last period Of thi-.g-three years, 1t
seems, taey hIre been especially liaaoe 10
perturta ton. and some astronomers, VINO
look for the great shower 10 take place
mkt week, Iscr1be Tue dela5 10 diis
CAUSE
IL is necessary to understand the Leo
alds as a stream of small particles, no
larger than grains of sand.-the debris,
perhaps, of a CONDITIONING continue
ously in a mighty orbit. VIII CHI annually,
sn the middle OF November. interSects uie
orbit of the earth. Through most OF the
length of this belt the particles are only
sparceiy scattered. but in one place they
are conCregated in a vast swarm, with re-
latipn TO which the others may tie re-
Earded only as stragSleTS ihe Leon as
complete their orbit in IS years time. and
once in So years, therefore, when We enter
~ avn y-2lN
look for such displpy as that of 1875 or
1856 In other years We see merely the
"stragglers'' In time OF course, the par
tIcles viii be scattered more evenly through
their orbit, since the outer ones take more
time to complete the circuit man me
inner ones, and tend constantly to fan
behind In the race. But tbs is matter
of millions of years, like so many other
operations In astronomy
in passing through The orbit OF the Leo
nids we see only the particles which are
tgnited by enter ng the earth's atmosphere,
some 100 100 miles distant. No Leo
MD was ever known to reach the earth.
the terrific heat 10 which they are sub
jected burning them out before they have
approached nearer than 80 or GO miles
They are 10 be distinguished entirely from
the sporadic meteortes which from time
TO time appear as drebails in the sky,
and sometimes fall 10 tue earth before
IESy are HGISiiiS
thousands Of pounds. A Shower Of such as
these would be disastrous. while The Leo
n!ds are quite harmless.
in the 1H233 Shower one observer Ikened
the appearance of the Sky TO a vast UNI
bCeila. This was due to tie fact thai all
The Leonids. seem ng at first 10 be dart
ing in every direction in the heavens, ra-
dated from a certain fixed centre. the
so-cailed radiant, alluded 10 before as being
In the constellation Leo. AS a matter OF
fact, the course OF the Leonids IN the Say
Is parallel. and the appearance OF radiation
Is due to perspective, as in the parallel
lines of railway track, which seem like
the Lennids 10 originate in a single point,
Tie radiant, however Is Only approxi-
mateIy Fixed; and it is an important point.
therefore, TO establish il more exactly,
since. from the position Of the radiant,
astronomers are able TO calculate the direc-
ton In VIII ch the Leonids are moving.
Photography, il = hose6 WEI do q great
deal to settle tf.is point. Photographs
taken with the Harvard instruments, both
here IN Cambridge and ut Ayeauipa. Peru.
have very satisfactorily recorded casual
netecrS crossing me field of y sion. On
ono IN particular. where thre. shooting
stars nf sirgia srsten, had been re-
corded. II was observed hocp exactly th.
point Of radiation could be defined by tbs
esnrersence of the three paths, especial-
lv In comparison with q visual ohsarva-
on OF DIE three rneteors which was tortu-
nste'v maze at tbs sa-e tine If next
Tuesday the great swarm reappears.
therefore. and If the weather conditions
are favorable. the Harvard Observatory
f,naes 10 serr1r. ~, Us 'rflofn --s-h1c oIsfes
complete data for determining thu radiaa:
and consequently the direction OF the
Leonid swarm
TO PHOTOGRAPH THEM.
Some OF the pho1ogranh!c APPLIANCES to
b. used-a-ways surprising the swarm
rearpears-have been t>snecialy devised,
for TIE occasion. The most remarkable
perhaps IS 2 swlreine cam "a. for seeur-
ing stationary images OF the Leonds.
Il is Ike the swing OF q psnduium-in a
state of balance at ether end: moving
faster. comcaraftvely than Il, shooting
star al the n ode, but at some point
between. on the rise or the fail. exactly
corr spending TO the locitv of the
object witch 4; is all This time photo
granhine. Besdes r4-t'nc the IMAGE at
rest IN this way, il will be easily possible
TO Calculate tn speed of the meteor by
ascer+asning the position of the camera
IN It's swing when fi,s; maga was secured
{ Another Interesting INSTRUMENT is fitted
with prisrns 10 phatovraafi the snectra OF
}S,o r ,,s1 c