OBSERVATIONS OP LUMINOUS METEORS, 



97 



III, Meteoric Showers. 

 1. The August Meteors in 1869. — The following Tables of observations 

 in Piedmont are contained ia tbe * Meteorological Bulletin ' of the Moncalieri 

 Observatory, near Turin. The numbers of shooting-stars observed at different 

 stations were, in the hours ending on the nights of — 



It will be seen by an inspection of this Table that the maximum was not 

 yet attained at the time when observations were suspended on the morning 

 of the 11th, and that the horary numbers on the night of tho 11th were not 

 so great as on the preceding night. The numbers of shooting-stars observed 

 on the night of the 9th was inconsiderable at aU the stations. 



2. Meteor-shower in August 1869. — Notes on shooting-stars and bolides 

 in Professor Tachiui's ' Meteorological Bulletin of the Koyal Observatory of 

 Palermo.' — "1869, August 1st, evening. On this night a considerable 

 number of very fine shooting-stars was observed, leaving streaks, some of which 

 remained visible for ten seconds. The radiant-point was between a Scorpii 

 and ,; Serpentis, at K, A. 252°, S. Decl. 22°." 



3, Meteo7--sho%ver in November 1869. — On the night of November 6th, 

 1869, Mr. T. W. Backhouse observed twenty-one shooting-stars at West 

 Hendon, Sunderland, twelve of which had a well-defined radiant-point at 

 R. A. 3'' 37", N. Decl. 16°, Of ten meteors seen by Mr. Backhouse on the 

 night of the 4th of November, four agreed with this radiant-point. None 

 of the meteors seen at Sunderland on tho nights of the 4th and 6th of 

 November, 1869, belonged to the great November shower. (Eeport of the 

 Observing Astronomical Society on observations in November and December, 

 1869, ' Astronomical Register ' for March 1870). 



The position of this radiant-point is scarcely one degree from that assigned 

 by Heis to the radiant-point R^, appearing, at about the same time of tho 

 year, at R. A, 55°, N. Decl. 16° ; while it is ten degrees from tho position of 

 Greg's radiant-point R G, for the end of October and beginning of November, 

 at R. A, 64°, N. Decl, 18°, not far from a Tauri. Professor SchiapareUi has 

 recently constructed from M. Zezioli's observations, at Bergamo, of about 

 9000 shooting-stars during the years 1867-69, a table of the positions of 

 radiant-points of forty-four meteoric showers, concluded principally from ob- 

 servations recorded on single nights of the year. Amongst the radiant-points 

 of the Table, M. Zezioli's observations on the 10th of November indicate 

 * Meteorological Bulletin of the Urbino Observatory for August 1869, 



1870. H 



