Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-11-08
THE METEoRs IN NOVEMBER.
Brilliant Displays Which May bs Ex'
pected.

At the beginning Of November we
have the advance guard Of the beauti-
full winter consultations well up in the
evening sky. Later In the month we
may look for six distinct meteor show
ers. according to the authority Of care
full astronomical observers. This ought
to be sufficient to give xest to the study
of the sky to the most languid of anna
teurs. The best known of these SHOW
ers is, of course. the famous Leonids,
which occur in greater or less numbers
about Nov. II to IA of each year. A
few times each century they appear in
such numbers as to produce the mag
nificent spectacle OF heaven ablaze
with falling stars. In 1899 and 1900 this
display was eagerly watched for, but
with disappointing results. 1t must
be distinctly remembered. however. that
some Of these meteors fall every year,
and the watcher may be well rewarded
at any time. Something over thou
sand years ago this immense body of
distinct but associated particles wan
dered into the solar system from the
vast depths of outer space and. falling
under the influence of the great planet
Uranus had their momentum so checked
that they were unable to escape
from the gravitative powers of the sun
and will circle about that body, until
the end of time or until the solar sys-
tenn has returned TO the nebula from
which it came.
All the time these particles are fly
ing on their passage around the sun,
making their endless journey Of 1000
ha iy, in, a 90
of about thirty-three years. Once a
year we pass through this swarm like
a bird skimming across stream. The
stream flows on perpetually. We circle
around and pass it once year. On
these occasions we catch a few OF the
bits Of matter which are crossing di-
rectly in our path while the rest con-
tinue their journey. If the orbit of the
meteor swarm was at very slightly
different angle it would not be en-
cOuntered by the earth and consequent
ly would have remained forever un-
known to us.
How great is the chance that any
given chain of meteOrs circling around
the sun will cross the orbit of the earth
and SO give notice Of their existence?
To give answer it must be remembered
that these intrusive bodies come into
space from every direction and that the
earth describes circle having dame
ter of, in round figures. 1856 5.000, 900 miles.
and moving upon an invariable plane.
Into an imaginary sphere of this diam
eter, then, plunges the meteor hav-
ing it's perihelion within the earth's
orbit. How remote the chance that it
will clo dnfinifa nn1N "
5000 miles across as it makes it's plunge
into the neighborhood of the sun! The
line is more slender than an inch rope
surrounding a globe third of Il mile
in diameter. Yet remote as the chance
appears. not less than fifty radiant
points have been determined where
these steady flowing meteor streams
are annually encountered. The total
number must be inconceivably vast.
Some of the comets which visit the
sun have orbits which require that they
occupy $4,000 years falling downward
toward the sun. and what applies to
comets applies equally to meteors. Yet
in the $4,000 years that they are falling
steadily down so little is the lateral
movement due to original impulse that
they pass barely outside the atmos-
phere of the sun; or, in other words,
this movement was not greater than
ten miles a year: The inference must
be that many of these wanderers of the
sky must have been on their travels for
not only millions, but thousands of
millions of years! Il saw a meteor
just now," quietly remarked denizen
of the earth as the journey of thou
sand million years is finished forever.
Quite as interesting and far more re-
liable than the Leonids are the Andro-
medeS. which fall about the 9th OIL No
vember. These are associated with
Biela's comet, which has been lost for
many years. They have their radiant
in the constellation Andromeda, which
at that time is almost directly over
head during the evening hours. The
AndrOmedes are bright. of a reddish or
orange tint, and have short, but lumi-
nous trails. The other showers are:
Nov. 1, radiant point in Aries; Nov. IA
to Is, in Ursa Major: Nov. 10 to %. i'm
Taurus. and Nov. 80. in Canes Venatici,
near the star called Cor Carroll. The
above mentioned star can easily be
found when above the horizon, as it is
iiIVSl vi tic tiIiICs ny tiC IdNt tiftt IL ~
the one conspicuous star opposite the
hollow in the bend of the handle of the
Big Dipper. 1t was named Cor Carroll,
Charles Heart" in honor of King
Charles I. by an astronomer of the
Restoration days. AS stated, it is in
the constellation of the Hunting Dogs,
and admirers of oliver Cromwell may
get what consolation they can from the
fact that i'm pictorial charts of the sky
Charles Heart" is placed in the breast
of a hound. During November it is not
well observed until after midnight.
Jupiter is monarch of the evening
skies and will maintain his regal state
throughout the month. One or two of
the five moons of the great planet may
be detected by means of a good opera
glass. Jupiter is due south at six
o'clock. setting little earlier each eve
ming during the month. He is by far
the brightest object on the southern
sky, and needs no other Identification.
Saturn is an hour nearer the western
horizon and may be recognized as the
second brightest star in that part of
the sky. The moon will be near
Saturn on the evening of Nov. s, and
near Jupiter the evening following.
Venus is i'm conjunction with the sun on
a nd ~ fhxa n