O'Reilly — On a Meteor. 87 



XV. — Notes on- the Meteoe op Feidat the 6th Apeil, 1877. 

 By Pkofessoe O'Eeiilt. 



[Bead, April 9, 1877.] 



This Meteor, seen from many places in the Sonth of Ireland, where 

 it apparently exploded, was also visible from Dublin and other locali- 

 ties still further north. It must consequently have been of more than 

 ordinary size and brilliancy, meriting therefore some notice as a matter 

 of record. 



Owing to the peculiar conditions under which such phenomena 

 occur, the impressions and estimates of individual observers naturally 

 differ considerably as regards the colour, the size, and the direction 

 of movement of such a meteor. 



The real conditions can therefore be merely approximated by com- 

 paring a large number of individual descriptions. In the case, how- 

 ever, of the meteor having been seen to explode at the instant of its 

 apparent passage across some fixed point or line, there remains an 

 element by which its position at the moment can, to a certain extent, 

 "be fixed. This advantage I had when observing the explosion, the 

 globe of flame appearing just to touch, by its lower rim, the ridge of 

 the houses on the opposite of the road, as I endeavour to show in 

 the accompanying di-awing. Knowing the point where I stood at the 

 time, I have been able to fix the apparent angle of the luminous globe 

 above the horizon, at 1 5°, using for that purpose a pocket sextant and 

 a level, so as to get a horizontal plane of comparison. 



The colour appeared as that of cupric chloride when burning, that 

 iS; Muish green. 



The size of the globe seemed to me to equal that of the setting sun. 



The time was very nearly three to four minutes past 9 o'clock, p.m., 

 Dublin time. 



The direction in which seen was about S.'W. 



The inclination of the line of movement appeared to be fi'om west 

 to east, at about 80° from the vertical. 



Comparing these observations with others communicated to the 

 Cork newspapers, which I annex, I find the following additional data, 

 which agree very fairly, in some respects, with my observations : — 



'' The Feiday night Meteoe. 



" TO THE EDITOK OF THE ' CORK EXAMINEE.' 



" Dear Sir, — I suspect that all your readers have heen discussing the splendid 

 meteor which visited us last night. I think it would be worth while if several who 

 observed it compared notes, so as that we may discover what its distance from us 

 was, and, if possible, also its size. I happened to see it from first to last. I must 

 add that I live in the eastern part of the coimty, exactly in the 8th degree of lon- 

 gitude. ■ To me the meteor appeared in the heavens exactly about the place of the 

 Polar star. It moved in a south-westerly direction, and traversed an arc of about 

 60 degTces. It was in view about six seeonds. During the last half second it ap- 

 peared to throw out sparks as if exploding, the coloiu' in the meantime having 



H. I. A. PROC, SER. II,, VOL. III. — SCIENCE. H 



