OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 139 



light of the meteor Avas very striking ; it appeared to luc to be moviug 

 slowly in a comparatively horizontal course." 



The most important instances when duplicate observations of meteors were 

 collected during the past year, permitting tlio height and direction of the 

 meteors' real paths to be determined and very accurate results to be obtained, 

 occurred on the 3rd, 7th, and 14th of September, 1875. It would occupy 

 too large a space in these Eeports to relate at length the various accounts 

 that were published of these meteors ; and those which offered the greatest 

 accuracy of description and position only arc hero extracted from the compa- 

 rison and reduction of a great many excellent records of their appearance 

 published by Captain Tupman in the ' Astronomical llegister' for April 1876. 



Meteor of September 3rd, 1875, 9'' 52'" p.m. — A meteor ending with a 

 flash almost as blinding as the sun, seen by G. L. Tupman at the Eoyal 

 Observatory, Greenwich, with au apparent diameter of about 15' of arc, 

 falling exactly vertically in 1| or 2 seconds to a point less than 1° below 

 and rather less than this to tlie loft of k Aquilse, from a distance of some 20° 

 above that point. It diminished in brightness at first, but disappeared with 

 a flash at last, having about lialf the moon's apparent diameter, as far as its 

 brilliancy allowed the eye to estimate apparent dimensions of its disk, and it 

 appeared globular and left no streak on its course. 



This is the description given of it by Captain Tupman, and similar accounts 

 of its path and appearance were. obtained at other places. At Tedstonc Dcla- 

 mere Eectory, near YV^orcester, it was visible in the S.E. by S. falling verti- 

 cally, and also falling vertically at the Eadcliffe Observatory, Oxford, by 

 Mr.' Lucas ; while at Leighton Buzzard the direction of its path was also 

 vertically downwards ; and its appearance at all these places was extremely 

 brilliant'. The radiant-point of this meteor was very nearly in the zenith at 

 the time of its appearance ; and from the positions of its apparent course 

 furnished by the diff'creut observers, Captain Tupman concluded approxi- 

 mately its real course, as will be seen in the annexed Table (p. 144) of the real 

 paths of this large meteor and of two other brilliant fireballs which appeared 

 a few days later in the same month*. 



The second large meteor generally observed in the southern parts of 

 England in the first week of the same month appeared at 11'' 21'" p.m., 

 September 7th, 1876 ; and eight or nine reliable obsei-vations of its apparoit 

 course at different places, principally in Kent or Surrey, and Essex, and at 

 Ipswich and Oxford, were collected and compared together by Captain Tup- 

 man. Among these are dcsciiptions by the observers at the Royal Observa- 

 tory, Grreenwich, and at the lladclifte Observatory, Oxford. It appears to 

 have been of somewhat less splendour than the other two bright fireballs of 

 which numerous accounts in the beginning of September were obtained ; but 

 yet, as seen from Writtlc near Chelmsford, almost immediately below its 

 real point of disappearance, it M'ill be seen, from Mr. H. Corder's excellent 

 description of itt which foUows, that its light was sufficient to illuminate all 

 objects with a bright flash, and that a very distinctly audible detonation 

 followed its disappearance. 



" I did not see it at first, but heard that it rose upwards from the S.W. 



* The details of llie various descriptions, and a valuable series of conchisions and 

 deductions from them, will be found in au article communicated by Captaiu Tupman in 

 the ' Astronomical Kegister ' for April 1876. The final results of his calculations of 

 these meteors' real paths are also contained in the number for February, 1876, of the 

 ' Monthly Notices ' of the Astronomical Society, vol. xxxvi. p. 216. 



t ' Astronomical Register' for October 1875, vol. xii. p. 246. 



