Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-11-11
Naval and Georgetown AS
tronomers Expect Great
Shooting Stars Show.
AMATEURS MAY HELP
IN CHECKING UP SKIES
Northeastern Heavens Will Be Un-
der Observation Three Nights
for Charting.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Naval and Georgetown University
| Observatories are to conduct an extern
| siye watch for three nights. starting
Monday at 80 pm, for the leonids
! showers Of shooting stars which bonn
bard the earth when it passes through
| the stream of a disrupted comet.
There is some reason to believe that
next week may witness one of the most
| magnificent astronomical displays Of
| this kind in history The two local
| observatories are taking part in gen
| eral observing scheme outlined and d.
rected by the University Of Pennsyl-
vania, headquarters for meteor studies
| in the United States.
Naval Observatory observers will
| take up their position on hilltop
/ northeast of the city. They will watch
| in two shifts of two men each from
! 11:30 pm. to 5 am. Monday Tuesday
and Wednesday nights The location
of the field station is being kept secret
10 prevent interference from crowds.
Amateurs May Help.
Capt J. F. Hellweg superintendent of
the observatory, said amateurs might
| render a real service BIZ independent
observations of the northeast heavens
| on those nights. counting the numbers
| OF shooting stars, noting their position
in the heavens, and even phOtOgraphing
them If they have the equipment The
| Naval Observatory astronomers are
going out of the city to get away from
the glare of the lights 1t will be
| essential for anybody, Capt Hellweg
said. to get the glare of the lights
behind them.
Standard charts Of the northeastern
heavens have been forwarded to the
| local observatories from the University
OF Pennsylvania. On these the posi-
tons OF any meteors- observed will be
noted. Then these charts will be COM
| pared with similar charts from other
! observatorles at the Pennsylvania head
! quarters.
Although prospects are bright for an
! exceptional display, it was explained at
the Naval Observatory. it is not unlikely
that there will be nothing at all. The
| meteors are believed to be the result
| OF disrupted comet, the debris OF
! which Is streaming around the sun in a
| very elongated orbit. Once each year
! the orbit of the earth and this stream
intersect, about the middle Of November.
! Some Are Visible.
| As a result there usually are a few
visible shooting stars. Sometimes. how
ever, there is 10 display at all, pre-
! sumably because the earth passes
| through the ring of meteors in the
| daytime. The greatest display-perhaps
| the most magnificent meteor show ever
| recorded-waS noted in the journals of
astronomers and in popular literature
| IN 1888 Then there was nothing
! exceptional until 1866 when. in early
| November, there was a display which
| before
| This led to the assumption of A 30
| year cycle. 1t was explained that the
stream OF comet debris was not equally
thick in all places in most No
MEMBERS the earth intersected the
stream where it was thin. but that an
proximatelv every 33 years the inter
section took place at point in the ring
where the meteors were exceptionally
thick
Astronomers in 1899 were prepared
! for repetition of the display. but saw
nothing unusual. In 1900 and 1901
there were sood dis PLAYS of the Ieonids.
but nothing in comparison to what had
been expected would attend the closing
Of the 33-year cycle. This year. and for
| the next two years, the repetition of the
grand display can be expected, unless
! something has happened to the meteor
stream in the meantime The failure
in 1899, it is explained. does not in
validate the theory of the 30-year cycle
because the earth might have rushed
through the thick portion Of the stream
during daylight hours
Although the leonids are supposed to
be related in some way to Temples
Comet. which exploded thousands of
years ago, it is by no means certain
that they are identical with it. If they
are not. the comets orbit comedies re-
markedly with the meteor stream.