ASTRONOMICAL PROGRESS IN 1900-1901. 



Wn heard during its passage. Such sounds, how- 

 ever, are purely imaginary and impossible, for 

 it was visible but a few seconds, and was at a 

 height of 20 miles, so that before the sound could 

 reach the observer the meteor must have disap- 

 peared at least two minutes. It is a very loud 

 noise that can be heard 20 miles, especially if it is 

 made in a medium as rare as our atmosphere is 

 at a height of 20 miles. A singular circumstance 

 connected with this phenomenon was that on the 

 same evening 5 other fire-balls were seen, but none 

 comparable to the one above described, and all 

 from different radiants. 



On- the afternoon of Dec. 7, 1900, a fire-ball 

 passed across Colorado and Wyoming, which is 

 said to have rivaled the Sun in brightness. It 

 appears to have burst near the northern bound- 

 ary of C'olorado, and horses and cattle were ter- 

 ribly frightened by it. It may have been entirely 

 consumed, or fallen to the Earth as dust, or may 

 have continued on its journey, and may still be 

 rushing through space. 



There appears to be no connection between bo- 

 lides and shooting-stars, as many suppose. Dur- 

 ing the great star showers of Nov. 13, 1833, and 

 a repetition of it on Nov. 14, 1800, both of which 

 the writer witnessed, when countless thousands 

 were visible from any one point, not a bolide was 

 seen. 



Asteroids. A broad stripe of the heavens on 

 each side of the ecliptic is tattooed with these 

 little "pocket planets," as they are often called; 

 all revolving round the Sun with as much dig- 

 nity as the Earth ; all in the same direction, west 

 to east; and all very small, from 15 miles in 

 diameter to Ceres. 477 miles. The smaller would 

 be a world but 47 miles in circumference. When 

 a new one is found it receives a provisional letter 

 (as ES), and when ascertained not to be iden- 

 tical with any before known it receives a per- 

 manent number (as 440). It finally receives a 

 name. 



It is a great task to take care of so large a 

 family (nearly 475), and astronomers now look 

 with disfavor on their further discovery; but 

 since the very faint Eros was found which has 

 an orbit so abnormal, and is going to solve the 

 problem of the Sun's distance, having two-thirds 

 of its orbit between the Earth and *Mars, while the 

 others are all between Mars and Jupiter they 

 look with more favor on the continued search. 



The following numbers have recently received 

 names, for the discovery of which Prof. Max 

 Wolf, of Heidelberg, appears to have a monopoly : 



the 40-inch refracting telescope at Yerkes Ob- 

 servatory, has made many observations and meas- 

 urements of the first four discovered asteroids 

 Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta. The first was 

 discovered on the first day of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury, Jan. 1, 1801. None but a practical astrono- 

 mer can form the least conception of the diffi- 

 culty of making such delicate measurements as 

 these. He says "the values 0.095" and 0.263", 

 from the measures of 1894, are as closely in agree- 

 ment with previous results as can be expected; 

 this is pleasing after having waited six years for 

 a chance to measure them again." 



These are the largest of all the minor planets. 

 Following are the assumed diameters of the four: 

 Ceres, 477 miles; Pallas, 304; Juno, 120; Vesta, 

 239 miles. These figures are the results of fifty- 

 nine nights' work. 



Comets. Since last report, fiv6 comets have 

 been discovered viz., (a) (b) and (c) in 1900, 

 and (a) and Encke's in 1901. Comet (c) of 1900 

 was discovered by Giacobini, and adds another to 

 the constantly increasing list of cornets of short 

 period. It was not large or bright, but it was 

 visible for a long time, which enabled astronomers 

 to determine that its period is approximately 

 seven years. 



The first comet of the twentieth century (a) 

 of 1901 has in brightness, and in several other 

 respects, surpassed all comets since the famous 

 one of 1882. Unfortunately, it was so placed and 

 its direction of motion was such that it was seen 

 at but two Northern observatories by Prof. E. 

 L. Larkin, director of the Mount Lowe Observa- 

 tory, Echo Mountain, southern California, and 

 by Prof. Campbell, of Lick Observatory. Prof. 

 Larkin says it " was observed for thirty-four min- 

 utes on. May 17, and thirty-six minutes on the 

 18th, when it disappeared behind the peaks of the 

 Tejunga, a spur of the San Gabriel mountains. 

 On the last date it was well seen, but it ttad be- 

 come very much fainter. Its tail was very broad 

 in proportion to its length, which was only one 

 degree. Its motion was rapid, and no trace of it 

 could be seen on the 19th, 20th, or 21st. No 

 time was available to secure its spectrum." Its 

 orbit elements indicate it to be an ellipse of long 

 period. It was discovered by Mr. A. Hills, at the 

 Cape of Good Hope, and by Mr. Tattersal, of West 

 Australia, on the morning of April 23, at which 

 time it was near perihelion and very bright, with 

 a tail or tails about 10 degrees in length. Its pe- 

 riod is estimated at 1,143 years. 



Encke's comet has the shortest period of any, 



