OBSEUVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 237 



1873, September 23rd, 5.10 a.m.— Khairpur, 12 miles south of Multan, 36 

 miles E.N.E. of Bhawalpur, Punjab, India. [Lat. 29° 56' N., long. 



. 72° 12' E.]* 



A description of the meteor at Khairpur is given by the Eev. G. Yeates, 

 similar in aU essential details to that cited in these Eeports (1874, p. 300), 

 from the 'Astronomical Register,' with the addition that it first appeared 

 near the star Algenib (about 15° above the west horizon) as a meteor,or rather 

 cluster of meteors, each exceeding in brightness a star of the first magnitude ; 

 and the breadth of the train left behind them is estimated to have been from 3° 

 to 5°. From this point " its motion was not very rapid but steady, and by the time 

 it had reached about 10° of the meridian, which it passed south of the zenith, 

 it assumed an exceedingly brilhant appearance, the larger fragments, glowing 

 with intense white light with perhaps a shade of green, taking the lead in a 

 cluster, surrounded and followed by a great number of smaller ones, each 

 drawing a train after it, which, blending together, formed a broad belt of a 

 briUiant fiery red." It lit up the whole country, and produced an effect 

 similar to that of the electric light. It proceeded in this way, passing in its 

 onward course close under Orion, the lowest star of which (Rigel) was very 

 near the meridian, until it reached a point nearly due east, paling again as it 

 drew near the horizon, and at about 20° above it appeared to go out rather 

 than to fall. The train, which continued very bright for some time, was di- 

 stinctly traceable three quarters of an hour afterwards. At first it changed 

 to a dull red ; then, as the morning broke, to a line of silvery-grey clouds 

 that divided into several portions, and floated away on the wind. The track 

 of the meteor was unusually long, extending through nearly 180°. The sky 

 was cloudless, the morning being described as remarkably clear, with a faint 

 glow in the east, the sun being stiU 45 minutes below the horizon when the 

 meteor was first observed. After it had disappeared, and while the train 

 stUl attracted attention, there was perfect silence, which was at length broken 

 by a loud report, followed by a long reverberation, that gradually died away 

 like the roU of distant thunder. This interval is estimated to have been four 

 minutes. 



At Bhawalpur the explosion was sufficiently violent to shake the houses 

 and slam the doors. At Bhawalgur, 80 miles from Khairpur, the meteor was 

 seen, but no explosion was heard. It was also observed at Jodhpur and 

 Moradabad, and was probably visible within a radius of 300 miles round 

 Khairpur. 



A correspondent of ' The Pioneer ' of the 30th of September records his 

 observations made on the Shujabad road, 13 miles south of Multan. He states 

 that the different fragments into which the meteor broke up were distinctly 

 visible, " more than twenty of them, I should say, moving in parallel courses, 

 two or three of the larger ones taking the lead in the centre, and each of 

 them leaving a tail of red light behind," which blending together, formed one 

 huge band of light. The report, which was very terrific, followed after the 

 lapse of about three minutes and a. half, which would make the point where 

 the disruption of the aerolite took place about 42 or 45 miles distant. The 

 train remained very bright for some time, and the clouds into which it was 



* H. B. Mecllicott, ' Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal,' 1874, pt. ii. no. ii. p. 33 ; ' The Pioneer,' 

 Sept. 30tli, 1873 ; Brit. Assoc. Eeport, 1874, p. 300.— The description by " G. Yates " (As- 

 tronom. Register, March 1874) a])i5eai's to be compiled from two sources, that of Mr. 

 Yeates's account above narrated, and that also quoted here, contributed by a correspondent 

 to ' The Pioneer,' from a point of view between Multan and Shujabad. 



