ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PROGRESS. 



47 



15th was cloudy. The meteoric shower of 

 December llth-12th, whose radiant is in the 

 vicinity of Alpha Geminorum, was observed in 

 Indiana, on the night of the llth, by Prof. 

 S. B. Wylie, of the State University. Between 

 10 and 12 o'clock fourteen meteors per hour 

 were counted by one observer. 



Aerolites and Meteoric Fire-balls. About 

 twenty or twenty -five minutes past 7 o'clock on 

 the morning of January 3, 1877, a remarkable 

 fall of meteoric matter occurred near Warren- 

 ton, in Warren County, Mo. No explosion 

 was heard ; but a peculiar sound, compared by 

 some to the whistle of a distant locomotive, 

 called the attention of observers to the descend- 

 ing meteorite. The direction of its motion 

 appeared to be from northwest to southeast. 

 Several limbs of a tree were broken off by its 

 fall, and the meteorite itself was dashed into 

 numerous fragments. The weight of the en- 

 tire mass was nearly 100 Ibs. ; the specific 

 gravity, 3.47. 



About 4 o'clock in the afternoon of January 

 23, 1877, a meteor of great brilliancy was seen 

 at several points in Indiana and Kentucky. 

 Its height, when first seen in Decatur and 

 Monroe Counties, was not less than 70 miles. 

 It exploded with a loud detonation over Har- 

 rison County, Ky., and reached the earth's 

 surface nine miles north of Cynthiana, pen- 

 etrating the soil to a depth of thirteen inches. 

 Its weight was over thirteen pounds, and its 

 specific gravity 3.41. Full descriptions and 

 analyses of the Warrenton and Cynthiana 

 stones, by Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, will be 

 found in the American Journal of Science for 

 September, 1877. 



A meteor of great brilliancy was seen at 

 Ellettsville, Ind., about half-past 2 o'clock on 

 the morning of February 8th. As described in 

 the " Proceedings of the American Philosophi- 

 cal Society," vol. xcii., it was " first seen in the 

 southeast, crossed the meridian south of the 

 zenith, and disappeared at a point about 30 

 or 35 south of west, and 10 above the hori- 

 zon. Numerous sparks were emitted by the 

 meteor in the latter part of its track, and a 

 luminous train remained visible for several 

 seconds." 



The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astro- 

 nomical Society for April, 1877, contains a 

 description, by Captain G. L. Tupman, of a 

 very large meteor seen in England, at London, 

 Cambridge, Brighton, and many other places, 

 about 10 o'clock on the evening of March 17th. 

 When first observed it was vertical over Tiiun- 

 ton, in Somersetshire, at an elevation of 60 

 miles. Its course was northward; height at 

 disappearance, 29 miles ; length of visible 

 track, 59 miles; time of visibility, 3 or 4 

 seconds. The meteor was in its ascending 

 node, and approaching perihelion. At London 

 its apparent magnitude was two-thirds that of 

 the full moon. From Waterford it was seen 

 to be double, the less part closely following 

 the greater. All along its track small frag- 



ments or sparks were observed to fall nearly 

 vertically toward the earth. No deposit was 

 found, however, nor was any explosion heard 

 after the meteor's disappearance. Its radiant 

 was very nearly in right ascension 145, and 

 north polar distance 95. Its motion was 

 direct, and its perihelion distance about 0.85. 



In the Observatory for May, 1877, Mr. Robert 

 J. Lecky describes a fire-ball which passed over 

 Ireland at 9 h - 26 m -, Greenwich mean time, on 

 the evening of April 6th. It was " remarkable 

 for its great size as well as for extreme bril- 

 liancy, especially at the moment of explosion, 

 the force of which was something terrific ; for, 

 although the distance must have been 50 miles, 

 the houses in the city of Cork were shaken, 

 and the windows rattled with as much violence 

 'as if from an explosion of gunpowder." The 

 course of the meteor was from north to south, 

 and the explosion took place over the Atlantic. 



On the evening of June 12th, about 8 h - 45 m -, 

 a large meteor was seen in Marshall, Delaware, 

 and Monroe Counties, Ind., the points of ob- 

 servation in the first and last being nearly 200 

 miles apart. Its motion was from west to east, 

 and its height above the earth's surface at the 

 moment of its disappearance was estimated 

 at 30 miles. (American Journal of Science, 

 August, 1877.) 



A fine bolide was seen at Putney, and other 

 places in England, about 8 h - 13 m - on the even- 

 ing of August 17th. Its apparent path was short, 

 extending only from Beta Piscium to O micron 

 in the same constellation. "It had the ap- 

 pearance of a large round ball of bluish-green 

 color, and one person saw a small body left, as 

 it were, behind it, and following in its track ; 

 it was visible some two or three seconds." 



A large meteor was seen at Bloomington, 

 Ind., September 27th, at 7"' 30 m - p. M. It ap- 

 peared in the northeast, about 50 above the 

 horizon. Its apparent size was estimated at 

 one-fifth that of the full moon. Its motion 

 was westward, and before reaching the me- 

 ridian it separated into three fragments, each 

 larger than Jupiter. 



A daylight meteor of great brilliancy was 

 seen in Virginia between 4 and 5 o'clock p. M. 

 just before sunset on the 20th of Novem- 

 ber. Its course was westward, and its disap- 

 pearance was followed by a loud detonation, 

 like the prolonged roar of distant thunder. 

 At Richmond it was first seen near the zenith, 

 and it disappeared in a bank of cloud near the 

 horizon. Its brightness was intense, and its 

 track remained for forty minutes. 



The New Star T Corona. The Astrono- 

 mische Nachrichten for February 20, 1877, 

 contains a communication from Prof. Schmidt, 

 director of the observatory at Athens, Greece, 

 detailing his observations of this star from its 

 sudden outburst in 1866 to the close of 1876. 

 These observations show that in May, 1866, 

 the star fell in nine days from the second to 

 the seventh magnitude ; that this rapid change 

 was followed by a gradual decrease from the 



