A CATALOGUE OF OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 



375 



just in time to see a glare of light which suddenly disappeared, leaving a 

 luminous patch in the east. 



'^ '• Professor Thomson describes it as a brilliant meteor of half the apparent 

 diameter of the moon, of an intense white light, -which rose due east of our ob- 

 servatory, apparently from the sea, slowly describing a small semicircle of 3'^ 

 diameter from S. to N., occupying nearly thirty seconds in doing so, and 

 leaving behind it a faint luminous track, which soon disappeared. 



A.M. 



(3) Ibid. I'' 11" 33' 



" My attention at this instant was attracted by a glare of light in the east. 

 This proceeded from a brilliant ball of a reddish coloiir, fully half the appa- 



rent diameter of the moon. 



which seemed to be rising 



from the sea directly under the star e Yirginis. After 

 attaining an altitude of 8° or 10°, it seemed to arch over 

 towards the north, describing a semi-circle of about 2° 

 radius ; when the lower half of the meteor seemed to 

 shell off, emitting a train of luminous sparks which fell 

 vertically downwards, completing the arch formed by the 

 slightly luminous train of the msteor. The accompany- 

 ing rough sketch is a copy of one made in my notebook 

 at the time, and represents the meteor when it first 

 bui'st. The total time of visibility of the meteor may 

 have been about ten seconds. 



(4) Ibid. 2" 40"" 58^ a.m. 



" On my way home, Avhen about half a mile due south of the observatory, 

 my attention was attracted at this instant by a glare of light. Looking up, 

 I feared that I had missed some brilliant meteor, when presently, beyond a 

 housetop close to the east of me, appeared a most billiant meteor moving 

 nearly horizontally with an apparently slow and diminishing motion. I ran 

 to the middle of the street, which enabled me to see backwards (eastwards) 

 along its path (indicated by its train), which appeared to have commenced 

 somewhere between Mars and Pollux, rather nearer the latter. The nucleus 

 passed over a Tauri, rested an instant over the little pair of stars in the y, 

 and disappeared without noise. The path and point of disappearance can be 

 represented thus (fig. 1). 



Fig. 1. 



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(Gemini 



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