5|Q§( ACCOUNT or THE METEOR SEEN IN CONNECTICUT. 



instance, that the other places of ohservation at Weston 

 aud Rutland are so situate with respect to Wenhani, that 

 a considerable errour in the azimuths at Wenham would 

 not materially affect the result of the calculation rtiade for 

 determining the height or direction of the itieteor, as will 

 appear in the following calculations. Mrs, Gardner sup- 

 posed the meteor to have been visible about half a minute. 

 How long yI- in its progress it was occasionally obscured by thin broken 

 able. clouds, which intercepted the view of it several times. No 



Velocity, train of light was observed to accompany it. Its velocity 



did not appear to be so great as that of shooting stars. 

 Its colour was more vivid than that of the moon. The 

 place of observation at Wenham is in the latitude of 

 42' 40' 15" N, and in the longitude of 70* 50' 15" W from 

 Greenwich. 

 Appearance of By the observations of Judge Wheeler at Weston, pub- 



tW meteor at ijj;|,^j ^^ l\^^, interesting" memoir of Professors Silliraan and 

 Weston. ^. ^ ^ " 



Kingsley, in the sixth volume of the Transactions of the 



American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia, it 



appears, that on ihe fourteenth of December, 1807> at about 



6h. 30', A, M., ** numerous spots of unclouded sky were 



** visible, and along the northern part of the horizon a space 



** of ten or fifteen degrees was perfectly clear. The atten* 



" tion of Judge Wheeler was tVrst drawn by a sudden flash 



** of light, which illuminated every object. Looking up 



** he discovered in the north a globe of tire, just then pass- 



*♦ ing behind the cloud, which obscured though it did not 



** entirely hide the meteor. In this siluntion its appear- 



" ance was distinct, and well defined, like that of the sua 



" seen through a mist. It rose from the north, and pro- 



** ceeded in a direction nearly perpendicular to the hori- 



•* zon, but inclining, by a very small angle, to the west, 



•' and deviating a little from the plane of a great circle, 



** but in pretty large curves, sometimes on one side of the 



** plane, and sometimes on the other, but never making an 



«* angle with it of more tlvan four or five degrees. Its ap- 



** parent diameter was about one half or two thirds the ap- 



*• parent diameter of the full moon. Its progress was not 



*♦ so rapid as that of common meteors and shooting stars. 



** When it passed behind the thinner clouds, it appeared 



*' brighter 



