OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 

 observed, chiefly in the Years 1878-1879 — continued. 



101 



Length of 



Tath 



About 25° . 

 About 30° . 



35° 



Shot towards E. 



30° 



Direction or Radiant- Point 



Appearance, Remarks, &c. 



Course a little curved down- 

 wards (?), directed from i 

 (7 Orionis, a Arietis). 



Full almost vertically (in- 

 clined 3° towards the left, 

 by a diagram). 



Shot almost vertically down- 

 wards. 



[Probable radiant near a 6 

 Draconis; Denning.] 



It was moving on a descend 

 ing grade when first seen. 



Faded gradually at last ; 

 slight train. 



left a 



Left a few detached pieces in 

 its track ; it seemed to hesi- 

 tate, and then die out. 



A very bright meteor 



Nucleus became faint, before 

 the maximum, then suddenly 

 increased to a vivid flash, 

 leaving a streak there, 1° 

 long, for 7 seconds, at the 

 end of its course. 



Nucleus very elongated. First 

 part of course very accurately 

 noted through large tree- tops. 

 [See description of its real 

 path in Appendix I.] 



A bright blue streak marked 

 the meteor's path after the 

 disappearance of the nucleus 

 for a second or two. 



T. W. Backhouse. 



W. Wickham. (Com- 

 municated by G. L, 

 Tupman.) 



J. J. Skinner. Boston 

 ' Science Observer,' 

 vol. ii. p. 35. 



W. P. Denning. ' The 

 Observatory,' vol. ii. 

 p. 346. 



Observer or Inference 



N. M. Lowe. 

 43. 



Ibid, p, 



Left a thin vapour-like streak 

 for 2 or 3 seconds stretched 

 along a line from above the 

 stars of Leo. 



Just after passing the east, a 

 perfectly distinct ring of fire 

 with a dark centre peeled off 

 it, and dropping a little be- 

 hind it, followed the nucleus 



S. J. Kirkwood ; D 

 Kirkwood,'Am. Phil. 

 Soc. Proceedings,' 

 May 2, 1879. 



P. Denza, and other 

 observers. ' Astro- 

 nomical Register,' 

 vol. xvii. p. 150. 



James E. Stone. Bos- 

 ton ' Science Obser- 

 ver,' vol. ii. p. 43. 



'The Observatory, 'vol 

 ii. p. 383. (Meteor 

 notes by W. F. Den 

 ning.) 



Report of a night 

 watchman, commu- 

 nicated by T. T. 

 Bates; D. Kirkwood, 

 'Am. Phil. Soc. Pro- 



