A CATALOGUE OF OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 



403 



No. 3 also presented a distinct interruption of its light. It was especially 

 brilliant, shedding quite a glare of light on surrounding objects. 



Nol. 



cT^ 



Leonis 



No.2. 



Rvcyon 



xp 



* 



No.3. 



0. 



rion 



^V 



** 



^ 



-W 



General Ajppearances of the Shower, 



Mr. Wood thus describes the general characteristics of the meteors : — 



" Unlike those of any other display, they never burst or threw off sparks, 

 but either burnt gradually away, or wasted away in forming the streak. 

 This meteoric shower is further distinguished by striking uniformity in 

 colour, size, and greater duration, both of the meteor and of the streak, than 

 in other showers. The colour may be said to be pale green, the proportion 

 between this and the red being about 4 to 1. The average size was nearly 

 that of Mars, then shining, which many of the meteors resembled. A small 

 proportion only were equal to Jupiter ; and I saw only one that somewhat 

 exceeded Yenus at its greatest brilliancy. Another peculiar featui'e of the 

 meteors was great accui-acy of radiation. 



" Phenomena at the radiant-point. — Figure 

 4 represents oiie of the blue nebulous patches 

 deprived of the true meteoric lustre, which ap- 

 peared from time to time close to the radiant- (^ 

 point. In 3 or 4 seconds they would rapidly "^ 

 fade and expand to double their former diame- 

 ter (as fig. 5). One such object appeared at 12'' 45" 

 varying star, increasing from the fii'st magnitude to the brilliancy of Yenus 

 in about 4 seconds, exactly at the radiant-point, in E. A. 148°, N. Decl. 2b°, 



"Meteor-streaks witliin a circle of 4° radius round this point were never 

 preceded nor followed by any nucleus or true meteor, but were suddenly formed 

 without any apparent cause, and appeared more comj)act and brighter than 



2e2 



Fig. 4. 



A. jr. It resembled a 



