El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-30

I how very unsatisfactory nearly all ac-
counts are, the appearance and the
noise being terribly exaggerated
One of the finest collections of meteor
ties in the world is at the American Mu-
scum OF Natural History in New York
City. In addition to the Ward-Coonley
collection, having specimens of over
ninety per cent of all known meteorites,
they have there the largest known me-
teorite of thirty-seven and a half tons,
brought by Peary from Greenland; the
interesting Willamette meteorite, found
in Oregon in 1902 the third largest in
the world, and many others. Though
these large objects were not seen to
fall, the scientific man has certain sure
tests which make ii certain that these
bodies came from the sky
Shooting Stars.
There seems to be. no difference eX-
cept size between these meteorites and
the tiny shooting stars which we
glimpse from the corner of our eye. 1t
is rather easy to estimate the number
of shooting stars that are seen daily.
If one, on a clear, moonless evening,
should get away from the city lights,
it would be only a few minutes before
he would Sc a shooting star If a care
full watch were kept, one could count
four to eight such bodies hourly. BY
estimating the area that one could see
over the earth, he would be surprised
TO find that no less than fifteen to TWEEN
" millions of shooting stars reach the
earth every twenty-four hours.
At times more than the average num-
Der OF shooting stars may be seen, and
the earth is then said to experience a
meteoric shower. The most noted one
was that of November, 1888, with re-
currence Of the same shower in 1866
Though not so numerous as in these
two years, there is each year in August
quite a shower of meteors. and during
the first half of the month, there can
readily be counted betw 10 and 20
every hour. The reason for the showers
Of '33 and '66 was that millions of small
bodies are grouped together, moving in
an orbit like a planet or a comet about
the sun as the center of motion. Each
year in November the earth in its jour
ney about the sun goes through the
track of the meteors, but only once in
SO years are the meteors encountered
display of a shower. In other words,
it takes them SO years to revolve
about the sun.
The cause of the August shower is
similar to that of the November show
er. but with an important difference.
The meteors causing the August show
er are not so much punched as those
Of the November shower, and are strewn
out all along their path about the sun.
The result is that each year when the
earth's orbit and meteor's cross each
other. which happens about August 10,
there is a display of shooting stars.
False Impression.
Though they are called shooting stars,
everyone knows that these bodies are
not the stars that are falling The
fixed stars are at enormous distances
away from US, and most of them are mil
lions of times bigger than our earth.
If millions of meteors reach the earth
every "a hours, the earth must be slow
Iy getting heavier. The increased weight
would show its effect on the earth by
making it rotate slower on its axis.
and the day as result becoming
longer. Since the first recorded astro-
nomical observation the earth has not
changed the length of its day by as
much as the One-hundredth part of
single second. and hence, we must
conclude that the average shooting star
is very small, most of them not weigh
ing more than single grain, with an
occasional one as big as an apple or
even paving brick.
The earth's atmosphere is so dense
that a great amount of friction is caused
by the particle moving, and in its quick
flight the energy Of motion is trans
ferred to heat The result is that the
small particle of matter becomes so
hot that it glows and becomes luminous
The meteor is generally consumed dur
ing its short flight. Once in a while
the meteor is so large that it is not
all burnt UP, and portion Of it, fused
on the surface. and SCARED by its flight,
reaches the earth as meteorite
Photos of Meteors
Photographs of meteors are often
obtained by the astronomer, generally
by accident, when one crosses the field
Of the camera, while it is being ex-
posed for some other purpose Very Of
ten such photographs show a sudden
Frightening, then a dimming Of the
light, and a second Frightening, as is
seen on a splendid photograph taken
by professor Barnard, show ing a nebu-