1806.] 



Oji the late Mdeor. 



143 



then ftandinc hv tlie fide of a pond, in 

 company uirli two other ucntlcmcn ; ivnd 

 %vc had all a very cleiir view of it. My 

 attention wtis fii-ft attracted by its brigiit 

 reflection on the water. I inltautancoul'.y 

 call my eyes upwards, and faw the phe- 

 nomenon Ihootnio; through tiic air, appa- 

 rently iu tlic fame direction al^ llated by 

 vour corrcfpondent. Wlien tirlt oblen- 

 ed, it appeared about 35° to the eaft of 

 the fouth meridian l!ne, and its altitude 

 was 11°. Its bearing, when it difappcar- 

 ed, was 6° call of the meridian, and its 

 altitude 8° ; and fioin the time I tiift faw 

 it, it remained vitihle about four lecoiids. 

 The appearaiK^e of the whole \\as much 

 the fame as ilr. Farey has defcribcd it. 

 It certainly exploded ; as the Iky was 

 very clear in that part, and no iliL'ht im- 

 perceptible cloud could obfcure f) lu- 

 minous a body. Its dillance muft have 

 been very conf.derable, ami this circuin- 

 ftance futhciently accounts for the e\plo- 

 fion not being heard. I muft obfcrve, 

 that Hanllope lies N. W. by N. from 

 London, diliant 50 miles. 



Knowing that every thing depends up- 

 on accuracy in tliefe fiatcments, fince 

 reading JNIr. Farcy's account I have eoiie 

 to the p'ace where I faw the meteor, and 

 liave taken its altitude with a quadrant, 

 as correctly as I could, by means of fome 

 lofty trees near the place, behind which 

 it palfed ; and I took its bearing when the 

 fun was on the meridian. 



Hanjlope, I am youi-'s, &c. 

 Atiguji 13, 1806. ' W. Si.NCLETO.v. 



To flie Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 

 sir. 



HAVING perufcd your ingenious cor- 

 rcfpondent Mr. Henry I'arey's 

 reii aj-ks on the ineteor of the 17th of 

 laft month, 1 am induced to offer you a 

 few obfervations onjlhe lame fubject. 



On the evening of the 17th of July, I 

 was walking, accompanied by two of my 

 daughters-in-law, on the MaWh V.'all, or 

 .Sea Bank, which bounds the eastern 

 lliore of the river Orwell. Our attention 

 was drawn to tlie planet .Tupiter, the 

 oiJy one of the heavenly bodies then vi- 

 lible. On a fudden, a little to the call of 

 tliat planet, and immediately over the cen- 

 tre of a remarkable groupc of trees, we 

 IfC'ccived an uncommonly elegant and bril- 

 iaiil meteor. The body upjMfircd to me 

 to be diftiuCtly ltai-(haped, with ii\e or lis 

 fiiya of clear iilvcry Jijjht, aud a bluifli cen- 



tre or nucleus intensely bright. The coni- 

 cal tail v.as of a browiiifli hue, ftriped with 

 rows of fpots of an oblong form, and a 

 colour and brightnefs refembling that of 

 red liot iron. The length of the tail, ou 

 the iirft appearance of the meteor, was 

 about three times the diameter of the 

 body ; but, as it afceudcd, the tijil was 

 gradually elongated, till at its liigheft ele- 

 vation 1 think it could not be lefs than 

 li.\ tliamcteis : this length it maintained, 

 following tlie courfe of the body, tiU 

 vithin about 1.5° of the point of its ap- 

 parent extinction, when its dcfcent be- 

 came more rapid, the tail appeared Ihort- 

 er, and took a more vertical direction ; 

 and though the difappearance was rdmoft 

 inftantaneous, the tail feemed fii-ft to vsv- 

 nilh into the body. 



Tiie circumftancc that at the time ap- 

 peared to me moft remarkable, was the 

 extremely llow movcinent of the meteor, 

 and this 1 obferved to my young friends. 

 They thought the time of its duration a 

 full minute : I, who had been accuftotned 

 to the ufe of a llop-watch, confidercd it 

 as about 30". 



Though I had no means of immediate- 

 ly mealuring the cuurie of this meteor, 

 many objects were in view which enabled 

 me nearly to alcertain it : — the groupe of 

 trees over which it rofe, fome tali Lom- 

 bardy poplars and bui! lings a little to the 

 W. of the S., and a remarkable fmgle 

 tree of the fame kind near the point of 

 its dilappcaraiice. • 



Following the mode of obfen'ation re- 

 commended by Dr. Malkelyne, and 

 adopted by ilr. Fariy, I was enabled, 

 by the aftiltance of tlic ingenious and ac- 

 curate Mr. Branlby of this place, to 

 make the following calculation of the 

 apparent courfe of tliis meteor. 



jiz,lmuth. ylh'Jude. 

 Fiift appearance S. 20° E, 13° 

 Greatelt elevation S. 30° W. 25° 

 Difappearance S. 80° W. 8° 



Length of the arc, 100°. 

 Duration, from the period of its faft ap- 



pcaiauce, to its apparent extiilttiou, 



ocl''. 



Tl'c evening was cahn and clear; the 

 thundcr-clourU had rolled oft" to the X. E., 

 and no fenhble vapour appeared in anjr 

 other quarter, excepting a thin haze ia 

 the well. The time of the meteor's »[> 

 pearance was, as ncarlv as I can gucfs, 

 3° 40*. The gertlcincii w ho obferved it 

 in Loudon muft have been miftaken in 



itatcd 



