Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-14

Just the way they are moving and their speed
Such work as this has shown that most Of
the meteors are moving In the curve known as
a hyperbola.
If you cut slice out of cone, you get
one Of three kinds Of curves, all Of which are
grouped together under the general name Of
comic sections" II you cut nearly peTpen-
dicular to the axis you get an ellipse. If the
cut Is parallel to the side the curve is q para
bola. while If 1t Is away from the side the
result is hyperbola.
All Of the heavenly bodies that belong to or
enter Our solar system move in one of these
three curves The planets themselves move in
ellipses so do most OF the known comets A
few comets move in parabolas, but it turns
out that most of the meteors are moving In
hyperbolas.
This latter fact Is more than a curious bit Of
information, for only bodies originating in our
own solar system can move In ellipses. Motion
in hyperbola proves that the body entered
the solar system from outer space, and so we
have evidence that the meteors are really Wis.,
tors from some other part Of the universe.
But not all meteors are such visitors. Many
of them, especially those Of the great showers,
such as the ones that occur in November and
August, do move in eniptical paths. This
shows that they are natives of the solar sys-
tenn and have been born in way similar to
the birth Of the earth itself.
A SIDE from their motion, the strange me-
teors and those Of our own family are
the same. And this brings us to the conclu-
sion, as Prof Olivier expresses it: THAT planets
also. not unlike our own, circulate about other
stars as well as these meteorites, which alone,
with an occasional comet, can escape from
their original home and bring this message
to U.S."
So here Is evidence, for the first time in
astronomical history, that our solar system Is
not alone in creation. In a few months the
star Capella viii appear in the constellation
Of Auriga the charioteer, in the northeastern
sky. This Is yellow star the spectroscope
shows 1t to be similar in composition to the
sun. Perhaps surrounding Capella is a retinue
OF planets. Presumably on one of these planets
conditions would be similar to what they are
on the planets Of our own system.
1t Is conceivable that these planets might
also be inhabited, but the astronomer who now
has the first meager evidence that there are
other solar systems hesitates to express an
opinion.
The study of meteors has an interesting
history beginning with veneration, passing
through stage of skeptical disbelief and
hnally reaching the present scientific attitude
toward them.
The earliest records are Of meteors falling
in China in the years 687 and ga BIC Dur
ing the following six centuries these annals
record IA others Various classical writer's
mention them and that they were supposed
to be sacred
In more recent years they fell in other parts
Of the world and also were regarded as holy
objects. However, the oldest known meteorite
whose fall IS actually recorded, dates from
1892, 30 that year has something to be famous
for besides Columbus discovery Of America.
"Our very term 'neteorology proves that for
o long time they were considered to be merely
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