OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 



117 



PRINCIPALLY IN THE YEARS 1878-1879. 



Distances in British Statute Miles 'm.' 



Length of Path 

 and Velocity 



Observed Radiant 

 Point 

 S 



75 m. (?) in 2, or 4£ sees 

 Velocity, 23 miles p. 

 sec. ; not very certain. 

 Parabolic speed 25 m. p. 



SGC 



1780 [or (?) 1200] m. in 17 

 or (average) 42 sees. 

 Average velocity 43 [or 

 (?) 28±] m. p. sec. Para- 

 bolic speed 26 m. p. sec. 



Not definitely assignable ; 

 but probably about 120 

 m. in 3 to 5 sees. [The 

 parabolic speed is 35 

 and the observed speed 

 probably about 30 m. p, 

 sec] 



63m. in 4 sees.; 16m. p. 

 sec. Parabolic speed 40^ 

 m. p. sec. 



100 m. in 3 sees., by two 

 estimates of the dura- 

 tion; velocity 33 m. p 

 sec. (Parabolic speed 

 35 m. p. sec.) 



80 m. (beginning and 

 length of path not very 

 certain) in 3 or 4 sees 

 (Agrees with the para- 

 bolic speed of 13 m. p. 

 sec.) 



About 170 or 180 m. in 

 ' two seconds.' (An ' un- 

 certain ' estimation ; mo- 

 tion swift and apparent- 

 ly hyperbolic.) 



335° + 5° ( ± 5°) ; near 

 6 Pegasi. A rough 

 approximation. 



14° -2°; 

 Ceti. 



near m (Bode) 



30° N. of E. ; alt. 25° 

 by the mapped track 

 [Or at 115° + 38°, 

 near ir, a Geminorum 

 but about 113° ( ± 3°) ; 

 + 32° (±6°) is ad 

 missible from the ob- 

 servations]. 



77° + 34° ; at 16 Aurigae. 



112 + 27; between 

 and t Geminorum. All 

 the observed paths 

 conform to it very 

 nearly. 



117° + 49° (±3°); near 

 X Ursae Majoris.] 



Nearest known Radiant Point, and Remarks 

 o 8 



337° -6°, July 5-Oct. 31; Greg, 109, 137 

 ' Aquariads.' Many observed radiants near 

 this place in August. 



No previously observed radiant in September 

 near this place. 



[108° + 36°, Dec. 31, 1872, Dec. 27, 1876(a); 

 a radiant, near Castor]. Account of the 

 meteor (by a Committee of the Society) in 

 the ' Bulletins of the Philosophical Society 

 of Washington,' vol. ii. pp. 139-161, with a 

 map of the fireball's track. 



Radiant-point of five other meteors on the 

 same evening, W. F. Denning, at 77° + 31°. 



108° + 28°, Dec. 9, 1877; Corder. A sharply 

 marked radiant of streak-leaving meteors 

 (of which this was one) apparently not 

 ' Geminids,' with long courses ; not visible 

 with the true Geminids, at 107° + 35°, on the 

 10th. 



180° + 49°, April 1-15, Heis M 7 . A principal 

 radiant of the April ' Ursids; ' whose streams 

 are all nearly antiapical. 



292° - 31°, about (or 

 from altitude about 

 17°, due south ?) 



The ' Analyst,' U.S. Journal of Mathematics, 

 vol. v. p. 178 ; Iowa, 1878. The observations 

 are scanty, but difficult to reconcile with a 

 parabolic speed of 20 («>ca) m. p. sec. 



