The Washington herald., 1921-11-06
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Scientific
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SUNDAY. NOVEMBER Q. 1874.
THREE METEOR sWaRMs
CAN De SEEN SOON.


CAN BE SEEN SOON.
By ISABEL. N. LEWIS,
OF the y. .. Naval observseory.
Aeteors generally appear In
greater numbers in the fan than Al
any other time OF year ana the
latter half OF November is a par
ticulsriy favorable time To watch
for meteoric displays.
The periodic swarms Of meteor,
are scheduled TO appear yearly in
November. These are the Taurids.
the Leonids. and the Andromedss
named In each instance for the con-
stellation in which the radiant
point is located. This 10 the point
from which the paths Of the vari-
out members Of the swarm appear
to radIate and IL shows the gen
eral direction in space from which
the meteors ere coming.
The Taurids are likely TO appear
any time during November but
their greatest display 10 scheduled
for November q.
The Leonids appear any time be-
tween November and 20 but are
seen in greatest numbers on the
18th and 18th. They follow in th.
orbit OF TempeIs Comet Of 1866
which has a, period Of thirty three
years.
The Andromedes appear between
November 20 and 80 but their
greatest display occurs between the
10th and 25d. II is believed that
the Andromedes are the remains OF
Biela's Lost Comet and for this
reason they are often called Bic
lids. They appear in exceptionally
great numbers every thirteen years.
Remarkable displays Of BieIids
took place in 1872, 1885 and 1885
When a swarm OF meteOrs il
quite evenly distributed around its
orbit the displays are equally great
every year and occurs at the time
the earth's path interseCts the psta
Of the swarm. When the meteors
are punched at certain points in
the orbit as is the case with the
LeOnids and Andromedes exception
ally great displays will occur In
certain years. Dense showers OF
LeOnids occurred in 1888 and 1856
and to a less degree between 1888
and 1901.
The LeOnids appear in the early
morning hours before sunrise ana
so the earth meets them head on
As a result they are remarkable for
their rapid flights as well as for
their long vivid trails and intense
blue or greenish light
The Andromedes or Bielids. On tn
Other hand appear IN the early
evening hours and so have to over
take the earth in its orbit Con
sequently they have a slow motion
relative to the earth. They are red
dish in color with short trails that
soon disappear.
The Taurids come midway he
tween the Leonids and Bielids be-
ing visible around midnight
on any clear evening when the
moon is absent one may usually
see two or three meteors In the
course Of an evening but n a
dozen or so should be seen in a
single hour one may be assured he
is passing through a swarm OF con-
siderable density. Since the field Of
view Of a single observer is neces-
sarily limited he sees but a small
portion of the total number that
enter the earth's atmosphere
Meteors or shooting stars travel
ing in swsrms are believed 10 be
In every instance the result of the
dtsintegration Of comets. That is
they are mere cometary dust. They
nature from the hrebBUs or meteo-
rites that strike the earth's surface
and whose advent is usually
heralded with a binding fash %
light and q deafeninE explosion.
Only in one or two instances has
meteorite appeared with a swarm
Of meteors