Nov. Meteors. Tempel's Comet. Perihelion passage Nov. 10.092, 1866. Jan. 11.160, 1866. Passage of descending node Nov. 13.576, Longitude of perihelion 56° 26´ 60° 28´ Longitude of ascending node 231° 28´ 231° 26´ Inclination 17° 44´ 17° 18´ Perihelion distance 0.9873 0.9765 Eccentricity 0.9046 0.9054 Semi-major axis 10.3400 10.3240 Periodic time 33.2500 _y._ 33.1760 _y._ Motion Retrograde. Retrograde. [23] See page 30. The fact is thus obvious that the meteors of November 14 are the products of the comet's gradual dissolution. It has been stated that the comets of 1366 and 1866 are probably identical. The interval indicates a period of 33.283 years--greater by 39 days than that found by Oppolzer. With this value of the periodic time and the known secular variation of the node it is found that the comet and Uranus were in close proximity about the beginning of the year 547 B.C. It is therefore not improbable that the former was then thrown into its present orbit by the attraction of the latter. The celebrated Leverrier designated the year 126 of our era as the probable epoch of the comet's entrance into our system. This date, however, is incompatible with the period here adopted. It is worthy of remark, moreover, as bearing on this question, that the extension of the cluster in the tenth century, as indicated by the showers of 902, 931, and 934, was too great to have been effected in so short a period as 800 years. With the period of 33.283 years it is easy to find that the comet will make a near approach to the earth about the 16th or 17th of November, 1965, and to Uranus in 1983. At one of these epochs the cometary orbit will probably undergo considerable transformation. We have seen that the comet of 1866, and also the meteoroids following in its path, have their perihelion at the orbit of the earth, and their aphelion at the orbit of Uranus. Both planets, therefore, at each encounter with the current not only appropriate a portion of the meteoric matter, but entirely change the orbits of many meteoroids. In regard to the devastation produced by the earth in passing through the cluster, it is sufficient to state that, according to Weiss, the meteor orbits resulting from the disturbance will have all possible periods from 21 months to 390 years. It may be regarded, therefore, as evidence of the recent[24] introduction of this meteor-stream into the solar system that the comet of 1866, which constitutes a part of the cluster, has not been deflected from the meteoric orbit by either the earth or Uranus. [24] Recent in comparison with the origin of the August meteors, which constitute a continuous ring. CHAPTER IX.