Parabolic Orbits Of Meteor Streams

358 ASTRONOMY: C P. OLIKIER 126 PARABOLIC ORBITS OF METEOR STREAMS By Charles P. Olivier LEANDER McCORMICK OBSERVATORY. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA Prsated to the Academy, May 10. 1915 The study of meteors as astronomical bodies began in the early part of the last century. The occurrence of the great showers of 1833 and 1866 showed the importance of the meteoric astronomy. When it was proved, soon after the latter appearance, that this meteor stream and Tempel's Comet of 1866 had the same orbit about the sun, the interest in meteors increased enormously. Though millions of meteors are swept up by the earth every twenty-four hours, still these little bodies also obey the law of gravitation, and, in obedience to this law, meteors pursue their orbits about the sun. Astronomy is interested in proving the connection between comets and meteors, in investigating the distribution of meteoric matter in space with special regard to that near the earth's orbit, in finding the cause of the zodiacal light, and the action of meteoric matter as a resisting medium and as an absorber of light in space. Meteorology is interested in the study of meteor trains and meteor heights, because the former give us our only information about the velocity and directions of wind currents in the upper strata of our atmosphere, the latter certain information as to how high this atmosphere must extend. To arouse interest in this subject the American Meteor Society was organized in 1911, and the results mentioned in this paper were worked out from the 2800 observations contributed by its members. These results appear in full in Volume 2, Part 4, of the Publications of the Leander McCormick Observatory of the University of Virginia. While the most important contribution to science was the 126. parabolic orbits of meteor streams, the most interesting result, undoubtedly, was the final proof of the connection of