130 



EECEEATIYE SCIENCE. 



METEOES, OE FALLING STAES. 



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Anothee recurring period of meteors, or 

 falling stars, is now approacliing, let us there- 

 fore examine in wliat way tlie amateur ob- 

 server may really make himself useful, in this 

 particular branch of science, and to do which 

 we must give some account of the subject. 

 So much interest is attached to these singu- 

 lar phenomena, and so little is as yet known 

 concerning them, that a wide field of inves- 

 tigation is open before us. We are in the 

 habit of occasionally seeing one or more of 

 these bodies, mostly small in size, sometimes 

 large, varying from a mere speck to above 

 twice the size and brightness of the moon. 

 What, then, are the kind of observations re- 

 quisite, in order to make a record of those 

 seen valuable P 



The following brief summary will give, in 

 a few words, such information that, if care- 

 fully followed and extensively persevered in, 

 will tend much to throw the requisite light 

 upon the subject. In the first place, the 

 locality of observation should be recorded ; 

 and, in the second, the time as accurately as 

 possible. It is then necessary to note the 

 apparent size, shape, brightness, and colour 

 of the object, and whether the meteor be ac- 

 companied by a train of separate sparks, a 

 continuous streak of light, or destitute of 

 such appendage; and if a streak, whether it 

 lingers after the meteor itself has vanished. 

 In addition to this, an estimate of the velocity 

 and duration, direction of movement and 

 altitude, or, what is still better, the path 

 amongst the stars; and lastly, general re- 

 marks as to the peculiarity of appearance. 

 The necessity of aU this becomes apparent 

 when we consider how varied are the difierent 

 features. Meteors sometimes appear and 

 vanish instantaneously, yet they have been 

 known to remain visible above an hour. 



They are of every colour, and sometimes 

 changeable, whilst others will give out sparks 

 of a totally different colour to themselves. 

 They move over a large or brief space in the 

 sky, or sometimes do not move amongst the 

 stars, and are, in fact, to aU appearance sta- 

 tionary. They are circular, oval, pear-shaped, 

 as a flame, a spark, a wisp of straw, or even 

 quite grotesque in form. They increase in 

 size or they become less, sometimes increas- 

 ing and decreasing alternately; occasionally 

 they appear, disappear, and reappear several 

 times. Again, they are accompanied by a 

 shower of stars, well-defined balls, a luminous 

 streak, or by wavy liues. They are to be 

 seen in every direction, and seemingly move 

 in every direction, yet the greater number 

 have a common origin. They explode with a 

 noise, or no sound is audible. They occur 

 by hundreds on some occasions, whilst at 

 others very few, if any, are to be seen during 

 a night's careful watch. Some on exploding 

 hurl meteoric stones to the earth. 



On certain particular days of the year 

 meteors are more numerous than at other 

 times, and of these the 9th and 10th of Au- 

 gust and the 12th and 13th of November 

 have long been noted as famous for their 

 showers of falling stars. Another period, 

 from the 16th to the 18th of October, is also 

 rich in meteors. 



The following periods, taken from the 

 "British Association Eecords," show when 

 meteors were more than usually abun- 

 dant :* 



January 26, 1844; 10 to 15, 1847 ; 2 and 

 3, 1848 ; 2, 1857. 



* It must be recollected that unfavourable weather 

 frequently prevents these epochs being recorded, and 

 especially as the number of meteoric observersis very 

 limited. 



