On the Meteors of 13th November, 1833. 163 
We have finally to enter on the inquiry, What relations did the 
body which afforded the meteoric shower, sustain to the earth? Was 
it of the nature of a satellite, or terrestrial comet, that revolves around 
the earth as its center of motion—was it a collection of nebulous mat- 
ter, which the earth encountered in its annual progress—or was it a 
comet, which chanced at this time to be pursuing its path along with 
the earth, around their common center of motion ? 
We conclude that it could not have been of the nature of a satel- 
lite to the earth, because it remained so long stationary with respect 
to the earth. The time in which a satellite, at the distance of 2238 
miles from the surface, or 6194 miles from the'center of the earth, 
would complete its revolution, may be estimated as follows. ‘The 
time in which a body would revolve about the earth at its surface, 
1 
is given by the following formula,* ee | *, where 7 is the ra- 
tio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, r the radius of 
the earth, and m the space through which a body falls at the surface 
of the earth in. 1”. That is, 
3956 X 5280 
Nise) ATs 
By Kepler’s Law, 3956° ; 6194°::84.3" : 165.2”. 
That is, the periodical time of a satellite, revolving in a circle at 
the distance of 6194 miles from the center of the earth, would be 
two hours, forty-five minutes, and twelve seconds ; and consequently, 
its mean motion at the perigee, in a circle, would be 3.926, or nearly 
4 miles per second ; and its motion in an eccentric ellipse at the per- 
igee, would be 5.552, or about 5! miles per second.¢ ‘This result 
is plainly incompatible with the supposition that the body in question 
was a satellite to the earth, since it remained stationary with respect 
to the earth, according to Dr. Aiken, for at least two hours,—a pe- 
riod sufficient to have carried it nearly round the earth in a circular 
orbit, and through many degrees of a parabolic orbit. 
Nor can we suppose that the earth, in its annual progress, came 
into the vicinity of a Nebula, which was either stationary, or wan- 
dering lawless through space. Such a collection of matter could 
not remain stationary within the solar system, in an insulated state ; 
and had it been in motion in any other direction than that in which 
the earth was moving, it would soon have been separated from the 
4 ‘ 
T=2 x3.14159| )Faeas minutes. » 
* See Vince’s Fluxions, Prop. xl. Ex. 6. t Gregory’s Astron. Art. 586. 
