'/ L. Smith — Bolide of January ^Ist. 



The following table 



gives the difference between perihelion 



and aphelion, the su 



n's mean distanc 



3 being 92,000,000 miles. 



yJars. 



CroU. 



Stockwell 



175,000 



8,400,000 



6,7^0^000 



160,000 



6,700,000 



5,150,000 



140,000 



6,360,000 



4,910,000 



120,000 



7,920,000 



6,590,000 



100,000 



8,700,000 



7,400,000 



80,000 



7,320,000 



6,290,000 



Ai 40,000 tiie diffl 



rence disappears. 





Ohio Agricultural and M 



ehanical College, Columbus, April, 1876. 



Akt. LX.— On a Bolide of January ^Ist, that passed over 

 Kentucky ; bj J. Lawrence Smith. 



On the afternoon of the 31st of January, at five and one-half 

 o'clock, while crossing one of the streets of Louisville, my at- 

 tention was suddenly arrested by a magnificent meteor crossing 

 the heavens. I first saw it at 60° above the horizon, and it dis- 

 appeared to my view behind the houses at an elevation of about 

 20°. It was pear-shaped, and very bright, and remained in 

 view for two or three seconds. Its apparent size was about one- 

 sixth that of the disk of the moon. It did not separate while 

 under my observation, nor did I hear any noise. On asking, 

 through the medium of the public prints, for the observations 

 of others, I received some fifteen communications, from an area 

 one hundred and twenty miles in diameter. 



To a number of the observers an explosion was visible, pro- 

 ducing several flashes of light, of different colors. This oc- 

 curred about ten degrees above the horizon. On exploding, 

 all the fragments disappeared instantly except the largest, which 

 also disappeared before reaching the horizon. Some observers 

 saw sparks flying off* from the ball, and a short stream of light 

 behind it. One or two think they heard a whizzing noise and 

 at the time of bursting heard the explosion. All agree in stat- 

 ing that the direction was from northwest to southeast. Nothing 

 has yet been heard of any fragments having been collected 

 My opinion is that it fell about the range of the Cumberland 

 Mountains in Kentucky, or in the northeast of Tennessee. 



This is the third bolide in three consecutive years that it has 

 been my good fortune to witness, in their passage over Louis- 

 ville, but the fragments of none of them have been obtained. 

 They all were passing from the northward to southward. 



