84 



THE GREAT METEOR. 



streams always radiate from a definite region of the sky, they 

 have been given the name of the Constellation from which 

 they appear to emanate, and so we read of the Leonids from 

 the constellation Leo, and the Perseids, from the constellation 

 Perseus. The former are the celebrated November meteors, 

 and the latter are seen in the month of August. It was 

 in connection with the Leonids that astronomers predicted 

 a brilliant shower of falling stars for November 15th, 1899 — 

 a prediction that unfortunately failed completely. 



But to return to the recent Meteor. Many in Guernsey 

 were fortunate to see the actual passage of the body across 

 the sky and witnessed the accompanying blaze of light as 

 the fusing mass swept past the island. Very many more, 

 however, saw the wonderful trail or streak of light it left 

 behind, which slowly drifted across the sky in a N.W. 

 direction and only finally faded from view at 9 o'clock, a 

 full hour and a-half after its formation. Speculation was 

 rife as to what the phenomenon really was, while we know 

 for sure that not a few good people were considerably alarmed 

 at the very unusual appearance in the heavens. On the 

 other hand many who would have sacrificed much for the 

 sight of a spectacle which thousands live through a long 

 life and never see were all too blissfully unconscious of 

 the wonderful event taking place out-of-doors. Amongst 

 the latter class must be numbered the writer and other 

 members of our Society, all of whom had just cause to 

 bemoan their ill-fortune the next morning. 



The local papers, of course, commented on the pheno- 

 menon. In the Star of the 23rd, for instance, we read 

 as follows : " Last evening at about 7.30 a most brilliant 

 meteor travelled across the sky from the North-East to the 

 South-West. From what we gather it was in sight for at 

 least 8 seconds, and left a glow behind it which lasted for 

 almost an hour." 



And the Evening Press of the same date said : — " The 

 bursting of a meteor in the sky last night was observed 

 by a number of people in all parts of the island. To the 

 unscientific observer the phenomenon resembled a rocket 

 coming from the north, dashing like a streak of fire across 

 the sky until it appeared directly overhead from the town, 

 then changing its course to an easterly direction, and bursting 

 with a splendid " fireworks " effect. The meteor left a wide 

 track of vapour across the sky, which gradually dissolved. 

 The track, however, was distinctly visible half-an-hour after 

 the bursting of the meteor, and was faintly visible much later." 



