246 IN STARRY REALMS. 



There are also several other showers which appear with 

 greater or less regularity. Each of these possesses two 

 distinct characteristics by which its meteors can be iden- 

 tified. One of these characters is the date on which the 

 shower appears. The other is the constellation or point 

 on the heavens from which all the meteors appear to 

 radiate. Thus when we speak of the Andromedes on the 

 27th of November, we express that the shower on the 27th 

 November comes from the part of the heavens marked by 

 the constellation of Andromeda. 



A striking discovery has been made which points to a 

 curious connection between comets and shooting stars. 

 We have seen how a shoal of meteors pursues a definite 

 orbit through space. It has been found that the track 

 followed by a great shower of meteors is often identical 

 with the track pursued by a comet. It is wholly beyond 

 the province of mere chance that an orbit such as that 

 of the Leonids should, both as to its size and its position 

 in space, be likewise that of a comet, unless the comet 

 and the meteor swarm were objects related to each other. 



In drawing this chapter to its close, I would remind 

 my readers that though we have been occupied in treating 

 of bodies which are often quite insignificent as to dimen- 

 sions, yet we have been really following one of the most 

 interesting and instructive branches of modern astrono- 

 mical research. 



The great sun guides our world through its long annual 

 journey. The mighty mass of the earth yields compliance 

 to the potent sway of the ruler of our system. But the 

 sun does not merely exercise a control over the vast 

 planets which circulate around him. The supreme law 



