OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 



271 



about 6° above tbe star Castor to a point about 5° or 6° to the left of 

 Sirius. The terminal point was exactly the same altitude as Sirius, and 

 about the same distance to the left. The meteor began as a first or 

 second magitude star ; and, after traversing one-fourth or one-third of its 

 path, it suddenly increased in brilliancy and apparent size to a fine 

 bluish-white fireball, and emitted a train, coloured blue, red, and green, 

 many degrees long. At this time the pear-shaped ball was 10 or 12 

 minutes in diameter. At about two-thirds of its course it began to dimi- 

 nish in lustre, and, turning a dull red colour, moved very slowly towards 

 the end, so slowly, that it seemed to come almost to a standstill. It was 

 then seen through a thin cloudy haze, and was about equal to Sirius in 

 lustre. I counted 22 seconds duration, making a mental allowance for 

 the time that had elapsed before I commenced to count ; but immediately 

 afterwards, by imagining the course to be described again, I thought the 

 duration was 15 or 16 seconds. It could not have been less than 15, and 

 may have been 20 seconds. The path was gently curved towards Orion. 

 The place of observation was half a mile Bast of the Royal Observatory, 

 Greenwich. 



Tbe meteor was also seen by Mr. Henry Corder, at Writtle, near 

 Chelmsford, who thus describes it : — 



Nov. 27, 10 h 25 m — At the commencement it was of the 3rd or 4th 

 magnitude, rapidly increasing to first magnitude, of deep red colour and 

 red train. Then equal to Venus, greenish blue. It began 83°+ 31°, 

 ended 91° — 1° in a cloud. Path 38° long, traced on the chart among 

 the stars of Taurus and Orion ; parallel to /3 Tauri and a Orionis, and 

 when produced the path coincided with 5 Monocerotis. Mr. Corder sup- 

 posed that the meteor ended at the extinction of the bright light, all 

 further view being cut off by the clouds. The duration was not noted, 

 as he endeavoured to call the attention of a friend ; but he was struck by 

 the great length of time it remained visible — estimated at about 5 or 6 

 seconds. 



The real ending was seen by Mrs. Ursula Ware, at Clifton Down, 

 Bristol, at an altitude equal to that of Sirius, and about 1° to the left of 

 the vertical of Procyon [by a diagram]. It moved very little during the 

 3 seconds it was visible. Time 10 h 40 m . 



These descriptions afford the following coordinates as basis of calcu- 

 lations : — 



These positions are in remarkable agreement, and the following true 

 path satisfies them all, both azimuths and altitudes, within 1°. 



When the meteor first became visible, it was at the real height of 50 

 statute miles vertically over a point off the mouth of the Thames, 11 

 miles north of Margate, or in lat. 51° 33' N. ; long. 1° 21' E. It moved 

 in the direction S. 26° B., in a path inclined 35° to the horizon, and dis- 

 appeared at the height of 13 miles vertically over a point 12 miles west 



