



Astronomy. 429 



3. Goujorfs Comet, (Comptes Rendus, May 14, 1849.) — A telescopic 

 comet was discovered in the constellation Crater, by M. Goujon of 

 Paris, April 15, 1849, who has published the following parabolic ele- 

 ments of its orbit : 



Perihelion passage, 1849, May . 26*65161. Paris m. t. 



// 



it it 



Longitude of perihelion, . 235° 54' 46 



asc. node, . 202 33 28 



Inclination, . . . 67 18 



Perihelion distance, . . . 1*15816 



Motion, . . . Direct. 



4. Shooting Stars of April 20, 1849. — Messrs. George C. Murray, 



Edmond R. Smith and myself, made arrangements for watching the 



heavens, Thursday night, April 19, 1849, hoping that some recurrence 



of the meteoric shower of the morning of April 20, 1803, might be 

 observed. 



At midnight the sky was nearly overcast. After about three quar- 

 ters of an hour we again went into the open air and found the sky 

 almost clear. We did not begin our count until 1 a. m. (20th), although 

 we saw a few meteors before this time. 



Within the hour ending at 2 a. m., we observed fifty-four different 

 shooting stars, as follows; viz., in N.W. 23; in S. 21 ; in N.E. 10. 

 There was nothing remarkable in these as to brilliancy, nor was there 

 any decided point of radiation. As usual there was a general motion 

 towards the west. Some left trains, but on the whole the meteors were 

 very much like those of common times. No aurora borealis was visi- 

 ble during the hour. 



At 2 a. m. we left the field, having come to the conclusion that the 

 number of meteors was not greatly beyond the average. 



On the subsequent morning (21st), Mr. Smith watched from his win- 

 dow, for one hour ending at 2 a. m., and saw only four meteors. 



lii. C. H. 



5. Shooting Stars of August 10, 1849. — At New Haven, the heav- 

 ens were almost wholly overcast during the nights of the 9th, 10th and 

 Hth of August, 1849, so that we were unable to observe the meteors 

 expected at this period. The following testimony shows however quite 

 satisfactorily that the meteors of August 10th, appeared the present 

 year in their usual numbers. E. C. H. 



(1.) Canonsburg, Penn., (letter to the editors of this Journal, from 

 Prof. S. R. Williams.)— On the evening of the 10th inst., I procured 

 the aid of three competent assistants and made careful observations for 

 meteors. The sky was cloudless, and until the moon arose (about 11 

 p - M.) a more suitable evening for our purpose could not be desired. 

 Having obtained a favorable position, one observer faced the N.W., 

 another N.E., a third the S.E., and the fourth the S.W., each counting 

 only such meteors as appeared to originate in his quarter of the heav- 

 ens. From 10 p. H. to 12£ a. m. of the 11th, we observed in all, tico 

 hundred and sixty meteors. They appeared with great regularity, 

 about an equal number in each quarter of the heavens, and in each 

 successive half-hour. About f^ of all observed, moved towards the 

 southwest, the remaining ^ traversed the heavens in all directions. 



Second Series, Vol. VIII, No. 24.— Nov., 1849. 55 



