Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1905-11-09
Shower 81 Meters


In all probability we shall see
"a fine display of shooting-stars
about the middle of this month.
We cannot be quite sure about
lit, however. 1t is certain that
the earth will cross the path of
the meteors which follow in the
wake Of the lost Biela's comet;
but we have no means of know
ing whether they will be thickly
Tor thinly spread along this
track, and so we cannot tell
how much of a shower there
WILDE
All that can be done is to pre-
dict the date of the possible
shower, and even this is not as
simple a matter as it seems.
The orbit of Biela's comet
which these meteors follow
used to intersect the earth's
orbit at a point which the earth
reaches on November q of
each year; and for several sue
cessive returns the shower
came at about chat date. But
the meteor-swarm has since
then passed close to Jupiter,
and it's orbit has been consider
ably altered by the planets at
traction. 1t is a very laborious
matter to calculate how large
this alteration is, but DIR. Down
ing, an English astronomer,
has done the work. He finds
that the orbit has been so
changed that the place where
it comes nearest the earth's
orbit is more than 100000
miles distant from its former
position at a point which we
reach on November 18. The
orbit has also been shifted side
wise, so that those meteors
which previously just missed
Striking the earth will now pass
about a million miles away from
lit, on the side remote from the
sun.
If the meteor-swarm, meas
ured in this direction, is more
than a million miles in extent,
we will pass through part of it,
and there will be a conspicuous
shower; but if not, we will only
see few struggling shooting
stars, as we did in 1899, when
the Leonids suffered the same
fate. The Leonids themselves
are due on the 18th or 18th of
this month, but the thick part
of the swarm went by several
years ago, and there is no
chance of a great display this
year.
The Bielid meteors are more
convenient to observe, for they
|appear in the early evening,
radiating from a point in And
romeda, which is we'll above the
horizon at sunset, so there will
be no need to sit up all night to
see if we are to get a shower
this year. Scientific American,
i Nov. a.
When the Logan fellows get
the new court house they should
put it down in the city square
where it will show off to some
advantage. If the people give
them $85, 900 with which to bull
a building it should be located
where it can be seen.
| Mrs. F. w. Meyers entertain
ed Mrs. E. M. Foster at dinner
this evening.
J. c. McCauley, of Sioux
G ty, who was the guest of Miss
Florence Tamisiea left for his
home Sunday.
Miss Edna Fountain returned
from Omaha yesterday, where
she had been visiting friends.
Dan Woodward has couple
|of rose bushes in his yard that
are in bloom today, Nov. 9TH,
1905.
! P. M. Evans, of Modale, was
a Valley business visitor today.
He says the roads on the bot
tom are very bad at this time.
Mrs. G. S. Osborn returned
from Nebraska last night.
Supervisor Hosbrook has
been over on the west side of
the county for the past few
days on business.
Mrs. j. Beacomb and son
James of Omaha were the
guests of Mrs. Ed Cummings
yesterday. Mrs. Beacomb is
Mrs. Cummings mother.
Mrs. Frank May of Sioux