48 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PROGRESS. 



meteorites were seen to fall by eight or ten 

 persons. Twelve fragments were found, the 

 largest of which weighed four and a half 

 pounds. 



On the 25th of June, between nine and ten 

 o'clock A. M., a small meteorite fell in Kansas 

 City, Mo. 



A large fire-ball, moving in a westerly direc- 

 tion, passed over the States of Michigan and 

 Wisconsin, on Saturday evening, July 8th, 

 about fifteen minutes before nine o'clock 

 (Chicago time). It was seen by Mr. E. L. 

 Linsley, at Stratford, Conn. ; Mr. Benjamin 

 Vail, at Henryville, Clarke County, Ind. ; Mr. 

 "William L. Taylor, at Wolcottville, La Grange 

 County, Ind. ; Rev. Robert Beer, at Valpa- 

 raiso, Ind., and by many others in various 

 parts of the Western and Northwestern States. 

 From the observations of the persons named, 

 with those of others who witnessed the phe- 

 nomenon, it has been found that the course of 

 the meteor was a few degrees north of west ; 

 that its height when first observed was cer- 

 tainly over 100 miles ; that it passed vertically 

 over the counties of Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, 

 and Berrien, Mich. ; that it did not reach the 

 earth's surface, but passed out of the atmos- 

 phere in its cometary orbit about the sun ; and 

 that its nearest approach to the earth could 

 not have been less than 70 miles. 



The meteor was apparently one of great 

 magnitude, as its brilliancy was compared by 

 observers to "the glare of a calcium-light." 

 The body left a luminous track in the atmos- 

 phere, which continued visible at least thirty 

 minutes. 



On Saturday morning, December 16th, at 

 12 h - 45 m -, an immense ball of fire was seen from 

 San Francisco, Cal. When first observed it 

 was descending rapidly, and, a few moments 

 afterward, it fell into the sea at apparently no 

 great distance from the shore. The fall was 

 followed by a loud explosion. 



On Thursday evening, December 21st, at 

 gh. 45.^ oi nc i nna ti time, a meteor of extraor- 

 dinary magnitude passed over the States of 

 Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and 

 Pennsylvania. Its course was 17 or 18 north 

 of east, and it passed almost vertically over 

 Fort Riley, Kan. ; Weston, Mo. ; Peoria, 111. ; 

 Rochester, Ind. ; Toledo, Ohio, and Erie, Pa., 

 somewhat south, however, of the place last 

 named. At Bloomington, Ind., the meteor 

 was first seen at a point about 10 south of 

 west, and less than 5 above the horizon. It 

 appeared as a single globe of light, surpass- 

 ing the moon in magnitude and brightness. 

 When northwest of Bloomington, Ind., or soon 

 after it had passed the zenith of Peoria, 111., 

 the body was seen to separate into numerous 

 fragments. The apparent size, however, of 

 the principal mass, was not sensibly diminished. 

 The explosion was followed by a violent deto- 

 nation, resembling a heavy clap of thunder. 

 The height of the meteor when the explosion 

 occurred was estimated at from 45 to 48 miles. 



The fragments thrown off by the explosion 

 were more retarded than the principal mass 

 by the resistance of the atmosphere, so that, 

 in the last part of the course, the appearance 

 was that of an elongated cluster about 3 in 

 breadth and 20 in length. The height of 

 the meteor when first seen was probably 70 or 

 75 miles; length of the visible track, 1,000 

 miles ; time of flight, two minutes ; velocity 

 with reference to the earth's surface, 8 miles 

 per second ; true orbital velocity, between 22 

 and 25 miles per second. The interval between 

 the disappearance of the meteor and the vio- 

 lent detonation as observed at Bloomington, 

 Ind., was fifteen minutes, indicating a distance 

 of about 180 miles. A fragment of the me- 

 teoric mass, weighing about a pound, was found 

 three miles northwest of Rochester, Fulton 

 County, Ind., on the following morning, De- 

 cember 22d. 



Star Systems. Polaris has long been known 

 as a double star, its companion being of the 

 ninth magnitude, and at u distance of eighteen 

 seconds from the larger component. In 1869, 

 M. de Boe, at Antwerp, detected two other 

 companions, much nearer and fainter than that 

 previously known. The observer sought, sub- 

 sequently, to confirm his discovery, but his ef- 

 forts, until recently, were without success. In 

 1876, using a six-inch equatorial, he rediscov- 

 ered the two new stars, and the observation 

 has been lately confirmed by that of Baron von 

 Eithorn. The light of the new members of 

 the system is probably variable. 



The Binary Star Omega Leonis. In the 

 " Transactions " of the Royal Irish Academy, 

 vol. xxvi., Dr. Doberck, of Markree Observa- 

 tory, Ireland, has given the details of his elab- 

 orate determination of the elements of this 

 binary system. The period is 111 years con- 

 siderably greater than that of Uranus ; the ec- 

 centricity, 0.536. 



Gamma Corona Australia. Prof. Schiapa- 

 relli has recently measured this binary star with 

 the eight-inch Merz equatorial of the Observa- 

 tory of Brera, Milan, and, by comparing his 

 own observations with those of Powell, Sir 

 John Herschel, and Jacob, has calculated its 

 orbit. The periastron passage will take place 

 in 1882 ; the orbital eccentricity is 0.6989, and 

 the period of revolution 55.582 years some- 

 what greater than that of Sirius. 



Eta Cassiopeia. During the past year, Dr, 

 Doberck has rediscussed the observations of 

 this star and obtained new elements differing 

 considerably from those previously computed. 

 The periastron passage will occur in the spring 

 of 1 909 ; the eccentricity is 0.5763 ; the period, 

 222.4 years; and the semi-axis major, 9.83". 

 The parallax of Eta Cassiopeise, according to 

 Struve, is -j^ of a second. It results from 

 these data that the mean distance of the com- 

 panion from the principal star is about 64 times 

 the radius of the earth's orbit, and the mass of 

 the system 5.25 times that of the sun. The 

 distance and apparent magnitude of this binary 



