OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 

 THE year ending IN August, 1878 — continued. 



279 



Length of 

 Path 



Direction or Radiant-point 



Appearance, Remarks, &c. 



Observer or 

 Reference 



The illumination of the meteor 

 lit up the sky. 



Resembled a comet or rocket 

 with halo and tail, and a 

 cloudy appearance round it 

 Burst into two bright star 

 like appearances at last 

 followed shortly by a long 

 low peal of thunder. 



(Communicated by G, 

 J. Symons.) 



T. Brockway. 'Chroni- 

 cle ' of the London 

 Missionary Society, 

 1877 ; (communi- 

 cated by H. Corder), 



L7° Horizontally from N. to S. 



radiant in Cassiopeia (?) 



28° 



Radiant S. 5, 6, in Virgo; 

 [confirmed generally by the 

 Bristol observation.] 



Downwards, left to right ; in 

 clined 45° from vertical. 



From direction of Pegasus... 



Apparently not a Perse'id 

 [Agrees with Denning's 

 new radiant for t August 

 10-13, at 97° + 71°.] 



Ended with a flash, and small H. Corder. 

 terminal spark. Left an 

 orange streak for 2 or .'■ 

 seconds. 



Flickered in transit ; light 

 dimmed by twilight. [Also 

 seen at Bristol ; see these 

 Reports, vol. for 1877, p. 122.] 



Seen in twilight ; left no streak. 



W. H. Wood. 



J. E. Clark. 



About 15° 



Left a streak. 



Not more 

 than |° 



Left a streak for 20 or 30 

 seconds. Similar meteors at 

 2 h gm (g° N.E. from Polaris) 

 and 2 h 27'" a.m. (behind 

 clouds in N.E.) lit up the sky 

 like this one. 



Nucleus a large round ball, 

 with another smaller body 

 (one observer remarked) fol- 

 lowing in its track ; also 

 noticed in the north of Lon- 

 don, see the ' Standard ' of 

 August 20, 1877. 



Pale coloured nucleus with a 

 long trail of light emitting 

 sparks of ruddy hue. Ap- 

 pearance very different from 

 that of the Perse'id shooting 

 stars. 



H. Corder. 

 Id. 



In the course of a few seconds 

 afterwards three meteors 

 (and a fourth some minutes 

 later), equal to 1st mag. 

 stars, appeared almost 

 without motion at the 

 same place. 



Observer's attention attracted 

 by the light in the sky ; in 

 creased in brightness till it 

 disappeared. 



James L. McCance 

 ' The Observatory,' 

 vol. i. p. 177, Sept., 

 1877. 



Chelmsford Newspaper 

 (communicated by 

 H. Corder). 



Communicated by G. J 

 Symons. 



John Graham. Letter 

 from D. Kirkwood 

 in the • Scientific 

 American ; ' (' Lon- 

 don Iron Trade Ex 

 change,' Oct. 6). 



