The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1901-11-15


This wonderful display. which startled
the northern hemisphere In the month OF
November Of the years 1929. 1888 and 1857,
was announced by some English astron-
omers as due TO reappcar In November
1850. But the watchers were disappoint-
I'd; and the cause assigned for this dis
appointment was that the swarm of
mctcors from which the shower falls
had been either diverted from its usual
source, or had been wholly scattered by
the influence OF some of the large plan
cts. The probability IL. however, that
wc shall behold this grand display again.
about November Is. 1901. one of our
leading astronomical publications, refer
ring to this subject, uses the following
language:
Some astronomers have expressed
opinions with more or less assurance
that the path OF the Leonid streams of
meteors has been changed that we
may no longer hope to see such grand
showers as were seen In 1866, and nota-
bly, in 1888. Although no remarkable
shower is reported as seen anywhere in
1893, 1t IL evident that the stream of
Lconids has not been diverted from its
former course far enough to miss the
earth" considerable numbers Of the Leo
nids having been seen at various points
on the night of November Is, 1900.
The explanation of the mistaken pre-
diction Is TO be found In the hasty and
careless examination made of the rec
ords of past appearances of these me-
teors, and which ended in n deduction of
a period of thirty-three and n quarter
years. Prof. Mcclure of Philadelphia,
however. with Prof Herrick of Yale,
and few others, correctly estimated
the period in 1861 putting 1t at "a years
and l day. or to be more accurate, 12,ils
days. Thus. the first recorded shower was
witnessed on the night of November H.
%. 1888: the next on that of November
was witnessed on the night of November
1918, 1885, the following one occurring on
November 1874, 1867; so that the next be-
comes due on the night of November IA
To- 1Dl-in "a few weeks hence.
1t has been found that this stream OF
neteors takes three years to pass the
point where the earth meets II in each
November of those three years to plunge
through 1t in five or six hours. The first
year of these encounters the head of the
stream is met, where the swarm Is thin
and the display consequently not so
great as that of the second year. when
the earth goes through the dense por-
| ton, to be followed in the third year by
a still lighter shower. The records show
| that the displays of the first year have
been visible in the Eastern Hemisphere,
but not on this continent, whereas the
reverse has been the case with those of
the second ycar-or the great showers.
50 called. AS the display of the first
year 1896 series was quite br.lliant-seen
only, however, in the Old World-the 90
years that had elapsed from the grand
shower of 1888 seem to have been taken
| as the period of return; and this no
doubt led to the mistaken prediction
which assigned 1899 for the reappearance
Iof this magnificent sight But the show
er of 1867 was by far the grandest of
that time, or rather series. And reckon
ing from the previous corresponding dis
play, 1888. the period was exactly "a
years and l day. as stated already. The
same reckoning holds good in the pre-
ceding cases.
| notable circumstance in connection
with the visits of the Leonid meteors Is
that the weather of the Northern Henri
sphere has experienced remarkable vicis
STUDIES ut each of the recurring periods
The sudden ana violent change in tn,