August 



1901] 



NA TURE 



411 



between gh. 30m. and I2h. 30m., 72 meteors were noticed, of 

 which 49 were Perseids. As compared with the previous night 

 the Perseids had increased, while the other meteors exhibited a 

 marked decrease. Clouds prevented further observation at 

 I2h. 30m. 



On August 12 the sky was overcast, but between I4h. and 

 I4h. 30m. there was a break along the east and south-east 

 horizon, through which a few of the stars could be seen. Meteors 

 were numerous, and it was considered that with a clear sky the 

 display would have been unusually fine. 



A few cloudy nights intervened, but on August 15 and 

 16 observations were secured during clear intervals. The 

 Perseid shower was still actively in play, and supplied about 

 one-third of the aggregate number of meteors visible. On 

 August 18 the sky was watched between gh. 30m. and 

 I4h. 15m., but meteors, generally, were extremely rare. The 

 Perseid shower furnished eight paths, so that the display was 

 still well defined. On August ig, observations were made 

 between gh. 30m. and I5h. , and 40 meteors were seen, of which 

 3 only were Perseids, so that the stream had become nearly 

 exhausted. The radiant point was determined from several well- 

 observed paths on each night, and its easterly position as com- 

 pared with its place on August 10 and 11 was strikingly 

 evident. Between July 21 and August 18, its R.A. differed to 

 the extent of 32°, as the following figures will prove :— 



July 21 ... 23-1-52 ... 5 meteors 



Aug. 10 ... 44 -1-58 ... 55 



II ... 45 + 58 ■■■ 49 



15 ... 5H-5S ... 6 ,, 



16 ... 53-1-58 ... 5 

 18 ... 55 + 59 ■■■ 8 



The Perseids furnished some brilliant specimens, but there 

 was only one fireball seen by the writer. This appeared at 

 iih. 2m. on August 11. and lit up the south-eastern sky with a 

 lightning-like flash. It w.as seen also at Birmingham and 

 Yeovil, and its height is given in the table. The largest 

 meteors recorded at Bristol were as below ; — 

 From To 



h. m. . , . . 



.•iug. 10 ... 12 47 11 33i5-l-6i .. 324*- 64 ... swift stk. 



... 13 o a 33 -4 ... 32 -12 ... V. swift slk. 

 ... 13 I7» >2{ 333 -)-6o ... 302 4-45i — v. swift stk. 

 ... 13 33 I 62 -f22i ... 66 -l-iij ... V. V. slow. 

 Aug. II ... II 2 2X9 353i+ 7 — 343 -14 - v. swift stk. 

 ... II 34 21 43 -F79 ... 232 -t-73 - sw. b. stk. 



... II 56 9 120 -f 74 ... 160 -f 65 ... sw. stk. 

 12 ... 14 4 2; 46-5 — 46 -15 — sw. stk. 



19 ... 14 5 JJ 322 -i-484 ■■■ 338*-f4i ..• v. slow train. 

 Four meteors seen on August 10 were also recorded by Prof. 

 \. S. Herschel at Slough, and their real paths have been deter- 

 mined. Their heights, &c., are included in the following table, 

 in which are also given the results for the fireball of August II, 

 which left a streak for about a minute amongst the slats of 

 Aquarius. It must have been a magnificent object from the 

 English Channel : — 



Height Height Path Velocity 

 at first at end per sec. Radiant 



h. m. mags, miles, miles, miles, miles. , 



Aug. 10 ... 10 41 3-2 91 72 20 24 2784-67 



12 O I 76 51 36 50 44H-58i 



12 16 2-1 6g 50 27 3g 424-5? 



12 19 3-2 72 60 33 25 149-1-60 

 Aug. II ... II 2 2x ? 95 56 64 ... 45 + 58 

 The latter object began over the channel at a point about 

 25 miles W. of Dieppe, and ended a little W. of Havre on the 

 French coast. It would be interesting to hear further descrip- 

 tions of it from the channel and from the north region of 

 France. 



Reports are coming in from various observers, and show that 

 the display was quite up to, if it did not exceed, the average. 

 Mr. D. E. Packer, writing from Birmingham, says: — "On 

 Saturday night, August 10, several hundreds of meteors were 

 observed here in a four-hours' watch, commencing at 10 p.m. 

 On Sunday, August 11, during the same period of time the 

 number nearly reached a thousand. At 11 p.m. a magnificent 

 fireball burst over the southern part of the sky, lighting up the 

 heavens with a full moon radiance and leaving a brilliant 

 streak of light which persisted lor some little lime." A corre- 

 spondent of the Nottiitghatii Daily Guardian says : — " On 

 August 10 we had a splendid display of the meteors. The night 

 proved to be the brightest and clearest I ever remember to have 



seen, and at about 10 o'clock meteors in great numbers w-ere to 

 be seen flitting across the heavens from north-east to south-wesi. 

 On Sunday night, August 11, the display was repeated with even 

 greater brilliance and frequency and with more variation, the 

 sky being again very clear." 



These descriptions may possibly convey a somewhat exag- 

 gerated idea of the character of the shower this year, but they 

 sufficiently prove that the event was a conspicuous one and well 

 worth the attention given to it. 



As observed at Bristol the radiant point was pretty definite, for 

 an area of about 3 degrees would include very nearly all the 

 tracks directed from it on .\ugust 10 and 11. With reference to 

 the minor showers, there were a considerable number visible, 

 though they were very feeble. A few degrees south of the head 

 of Draco and at the point 26g° + 47°, there was a radiant of 

 bright-trained, slow- moving meteors, while east of f Persei at 

 63- + 30' there was a radiant of very swift streak- leaving meteors. 

 There were other well definetf showers from 2go'-l-53'', 

 312° -1-13° and 333° 4- 72'. W. F. Denning. 



Mr. W. E. Rolston sends the following account of observations 

 made by him : — 



" I commenced my observations at Birmingham at 10.45 

 p m. on the night of August 1 1 and continued them till 

 12.48 a.m. on the morning of August 12, when a bank of clouds 

 rising from the N.E. stopped further observations. For this 

 period, of 2 hours 3 minutes, I counted 143 meteors, which 

 appeared to have their origin in the region of Perseus, and 

 17 others having various origins. During this time a very 

 clear sky obtained, rendering short and faint trails easily visible. 

 All the observations were visual, and, as I happened to have 

 exhausted my stock of plates, I was unable to attempt the 

 securing of "trail" photographs. Several of the Perseids were 

 remarkable either for their brightness, or else for the length of 

 time their trails were visible after the nucleus had either disap- 

 peared below my horizon — of surrounding houses — or had died 

 away. Observations on these, including the times of their ap- 

 pearance, are given in the appended table. 



" From the 143 observations made, I deduced that the radiant 

 point of these meteors is situated about the point whose co- 

 ordinates are : — Deck 58° N., R.A. .2h. 35m. 



Remarkable for a very bright nucleus, and a 

 vivid trail which remained visible for 53-55 

 seconds ; first appeared in the region of 

 K Andromedre (alt. about 60'), and travelled 

 between Aquila and Delphinus to about alt. 

 25°, when it disappeared behind a housetop. 

 The trail had a bluish-white and shimmering 

 appearance. 



Appeared in region of S Cassiopice ; was vBry 

 blight, and trail lasted for 7 seconds. 



Appeared in region of 5 Cygni and travelled 

 Ihrougli f^yra, leaving a bright trail which 

 lasted for 9 seconds. 



Appeared in region of o Persei and travelled 

 towards Aries ; was very short, but very 

 bright ; evidently the greater component of 

 its motion was in the line of sight. 



Appeared in region of 33 Cygni and travelled 

 b.VV. through Lyra ; very bright, and 

 left a bright trail which lasted about S 

 seconds. 



Very bright and short ; left bright trail which 

 was, as nearly as I could judge, exactly 

 parallel to a line joining and 7 Arietis, 

 and near to them. 



Very bright, leaving a good trail from Cassiopeia, 

 half way between 3 Pegasi and e Cygni. 



A very bright meteor which "occulted" 

 a Andromeda; and then travelled in the 

 direction of the group 59, 57 and 55 Pegasi. 



NO. 1660, VOL. 64] 



