Smithsonian

Contributions to Astrophysics

VOLUME 2, NUMBER 6

ANCIENT NOVAE
AND
METEOR SHOWERS

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

Washington, D. C.

1958

Publications of the Astrophysical Observatory

This series, Smithsonian Contributions to Astrophysics, was inaugurated in 1956 to provide a proper communication for the results of research conducted at the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution. Its purpose is the “increase and diffusion of knowledge” in the field of astrophysics, with particular emphasis on problems of the sun, the earth, and the solar system. Its pages are open to a limited number of papers by other investigators with whom we have common interests.

Another series is Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory. It was started in 1900 by the Observatory’s first director, Samuel P. Langley, and has been published about every 10 years since that date. These quarto volumes, some of which are still available, record the history of the Observatory’s researches and activities.

Many technical papers and volumes emanating from the Astrophysical Observatory have appeared in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. Among these are Smithsonian Physical Tables, Smithsonian Meteorological Tables, and World Weather Records.

Additional information concerning these publications may be secured from the Editorial and Publications Division, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

FRED L. WHIPPLE, Director,

Astrophysical Observatory,

Smithsonian Institution.

Cambridge, Mass.

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Contents

Publications of the Astrophysical Observatory

A New Catalog of Ancient Novae: Hsi Tsê-tsung

The nova near 17 Virginia on May 3 A. D. 64.

The nova on January 31 A. D. 66.

The nova on September 12 A. D. 684.

The three novae in the period from April to June A. D. 837.

The nova on January 26 A. D. 962.

References

Abstract

Historical Records of Meteor Showers in China, Korea, and Japan: Susumu Imoto and Ichiro Hasegawa

References

Abstract

A New Catalog of Ancient Novae[1]

By Hsi Tsê-tsung[2]

[This translation is the result of the combined efforts of certain astronomers and Chinese scholars who prefer to remain anonymous. Their help is gratefully acknowledged. Particular thanks go to Dr. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, whose sustained interest in the paper was of major assistance in its publication.]

The study of novae is of great significance in stellar evolution and radio astronomy. Can the outbursts of novae and supernovae be radio point sources? Are the supernovae and slow novae associated with the planetary nebulae in the process of evolution? Can a nova explode more than once? Does the outburst of a nova or supernova involve the development of a common star into a white dwarf? What is the frequency of supernova outbursts in the Milky Way system? All these questions need many observational data for solution. They require not only modern observations, but also historical data from the past.

Lundmark (1921) has collected many observations of ancient novae and compiled a catalog that has been used by almost all astronomers. But as Vorontsov-Velyaminov (1948) comments:

Lundmark’s catalog contains many doubtful points. If we rely on this material as the only source for enriching the poor observational data of the past, it is, at best, a very risky matter.

The catalog includes 60 novae that were discovered before or during the 19th century. This material was drawn mainly from Ma Tuan-lin’s Wên-hsien t‛ung-k‛ao (section on “guest stars”). In the past, however, the Chinese often confused novae (“guest stars”) with comets (“sweeping stars”). Moreover, the record in Ma Tuan-lin’s treatise is by no means complete. Therefore Lundmark’s work is not entirely accurate or complete.

[1] Translated from Acta Astronomica Sinica, 1955, vol. 3, p. 183.

[2] Commission of the History of Chinese Natural Sciences, Academia Sinica, Peking, China.

Recently, after searching through the Twenty-four Histories, Wên-hsien t‛ung-k‛ao, T‛ung-chih, and the studies of institutions known as Hui-yao of various dynasties, and checking with various histories and various Japanese astronomical materials, we rechecked Lundmark’s catalog in detail. We concluded that the following stars are not novae, but comets.

The nova near η Virginia on May 3 A. D. 64.

In T‛ung-k‛ao, the report reads:

On the 47th cyclical day, 3d month, 7th year of Yung-p‛ing of the Emperor Ming of the Han dynasty, a “guest star” with a ray as long as 2 ch‛ih [Chinese counterpart of feet] appears at the south of T‛ai-wei’s Tso Chih-fa [a region near the North Pole that includes UMa], outside Tuan-mên, lasting 75 days.

The 2-ch‛ih long ray could indicate that this star had a tail, and was therefore a comet. (The date given corresponds to April 28 A. D. 64, Western calendar.)

[Translator’s note.—The ancient Chinese language uses 60 combinations of 22 characters (10 representing the Stems of the Heaven, 12 the Branches of the Earth) to denote hour, day, month, or year, in succession: 60 days or months or years comprise a cycle. When a cycle is completed, a new one starts over again, and all these cycles for day, month, and year respectively, go on independently. No relation between day, month, and year could be shown by this system. For instance, there is the 54th cyclical day of the 2d month. As a rule, however, this system was used only for the date, rarely for the month. In most cases, only the 12 characters of the Branches of the Earth were used to indicate the hour, so the system could denote the hour with more exactness. The 4th cyclical hour always means the period from 5 a. m. to 7 a. m., the 11th cyclical hour, from 7 p. m. to 9 p. m.

The modern translation of “sweeping star” is “comet,” and of “guest star,” “nova”; however, in order to be more faithful to the original text, the literary translation has been used.

The positions of each Chinese star have been indicated after checking different dictionaries and other sources without referring to the catalog position.]

The nova on January 31 A. D. 66.

Lundmark based his identification on a sentence from T‛ung-K‛ao:

On the 25th cyclical day, 12th month, winter, 8th year of Yung-p‛ing of Emperor Hsiao Ming of the Han dynasty, a “guest star” appears in the east.

But in the Hui-yao of the Eastern Han dynasty, one passage records the appearance of a comet, as follows:

On the 45th cyclical day, 1st month, a “guest star” comes out from Ch‛ien-niu [a region that includes α Aquila], as long as 8 ch‛ih, passing Chien-hsing [around Sgr], disappearing at the south of Fang [β, δ, π, ν Sco].

The Ku-chin chu of the Tung Han-shu says that the star

has passed Tou [μ, λ, ρ, σ, τ, ζ Sgr] Chien, Ch‛i, Fang, crossed Chiao [ζ, θ, ι Vir and Spica] K‛ang and arrived at I [22 stars in Hya and Crt]; its flame points east and is visible almost 50 days.

The 45th day of the 1st month is February 20, which is only 20 days after January 31. During this time, at nine each night, the stars of Tou, Chien, Ch‛i [γ, δ, є, β Sgr], Fang, Chiao, K‛ang [ι, κ, λ, ρ, Vir], and I all are in the east, so that the nova seen there on January 31 could well have been the comet mentioned in the Hui-yao. Furthermore, the time of perihelion of Halley’s Comet is January 26 of that year, so this “nova” was probably Halley’s Comet. In T‛ien-wên K‛ao-ku lu, Chu Wên-hsin declares that the identification of the comet seen in the 6th month, 8th year of Yung-p‛ing as Halley’s Comet is obviously a mistake, because that comet appeared on the 19th cyclical day, 6th month, and lasted 56 days, from July 29 A. D. 65, to September 23, A. D. 65. The interval from September 23 A. D. 65, to January 26 of the next year is more than four months.

The nova on September 12 A. D. 684.

It is recorded in both Nihon Shuki and Ihai kiyo:

On the 9th cyclical day, 7th month, 12th year of T‛ien-wu, a “sweeping star” appears in the northwest; the length is more than one chang [ten ch‛ih].

The date corresponds to September 7 A. D. 684. The date of perihelion of Halley’s Comet is November 26, the same year, and it is very often visible two or three months before or after the date of its perihelion. Therefore, the comet described in these Japanese books is probably Halley’s Comet (in the shape of a crescent).

The three novae in the period from April to June A. D. 837.

T‛ung-k‛ao, in the “guest star” section, states:

On the 21st cyclical day, 3d month, 2d year of K‛ai-ch‛êng of Wên-tsung of the T‛ang dynasty, a “guest star” appeared beneath Tung-ching [Gemini]; on the 25th cyclical day another one appeared within Tuan-mên [the southern star of T‛ai-wei]. On the 43d cyclical day, 4th month, the one beneath Tung-ching disappeared; on the 10th cyclical day, 5th month, the other one within Tuan-mên disappeared. On the 19th cyclical day, a “guest star” like a “sparkling star” stood beside Nan-tou [μ, λ, ρ, σ, γ, ζ Sgr] and T‛ien-yo [8 stars in the west of Nan-tou].

Williams (1871), Biot (1846), and Lundmark (1921) consider that these three are novae:

1. From April 29 to May 21 A. D. 837, nova in Gemini.

2. From May 3 to June 17 A. D. 837, nova near v Vir.

3. On June 26 A. D. 837, nova beside δ, λ Sgr.

Recently Shklovsky (1954) and Shajn (Shajn and Hase, 1954; Hase and Shajn, 1954) have stated that the outburst of the nova in Gemini occurred between μ, η, in Gemini; that the nebula IC 443 is the remnant of the nova; and, furthermore, that it may be possible to relate this with the radio point source (α=6h 14m, δ= +22° 38′).

However, in the Book of Astronomy, a section of the Hsin T‛ang-shu, preceding the passage about these novae, is another paragraph recording the passing of a comet:

On the 43d cyclical day, 2d month, 2d year of K‛ai-ch‛eng of the T‛ang dynasty, there was a “sweeping star” at Wei [θ, є Peg and α Aqr] as long as 7 ch‛ih, pointing toward Nan-tou. On the 45th cyclical day, at the southwest of Wei, the flame became more glaring. On the 50th cyclical day, at Hsü [β Aqr and α Eql]; on the 58th cyclical day it was 2 chang long, moving westward, slightly pointing to the south; on the 59th cyclical day, at Wu-nü [є, μ, v Aqr], it was 2 chang long, 3 ch‛ih wide; on the 60th cyclical day, it was becoming longer and wider. On the 1st cyclical day, 3d month, at Nan-tou; on the 2d cyclical day it was 5 chang long, with a forked tail, one pointing to Ti [α, β, γ, ι Lib], the other covering Fang. On the 3d cyclical day it was 6 chang long, the tail was not forked and was pointing northwards, at K‛ang Ch‛i-tu [around Vir]; on the 4th cyclical day it was moving towards the northwest, pointing eastwards; on the 6th cyclical day it was 8 chang long, at Chang. On the 20th cyclical day, it was 3 ch‛ih long, and not visible at the right of Hsüan-yüan [around Leo, and LMi, including Regulus].

A “sweeping star,” in most cases, points towards the west when it rises at dawn, and points towards the east when it rises at dusk. No “sweeping star” points towards all directions, offending notoriously as in this case. As stated above, on the 21st cyclical day a “guest star” appears beneath Tung-ching, and on the 34th cyclical day, 8th month, a “sweeping star” appears at Wei.

We can therefore conclude that these three “novae” and the twice-mentioned comet are all a single phenomenon—Halley’s Comet, the path of which is shown in figure 1. The date of perihelion of Halley’s Comet in this year, A. D. 837, would be about March 1.

The nova on January 26 A. D. 962.

It is stated in Sung-shih:

On the 46th cyclical day, 12th month, 2d year of Chien-lung of the Sung dynasty, a “guest star” appears at the east of T‛ien-shih Huan-tsung Jên-hsing [the area between Lyr and Boö, Dra and Ser] with a slight flame. On the 8th cyclical day, 2d month, it disappears at Ch‛i-hsing [Great Dipper: α, β, γ, δ, є, ζ, η UMa].

This object was obviously a comet.

We shall now correct the mistakes in Lundmark’s catalog, and add the new material we have collected to make this new catalog of 90 ancient novae up to A. D. 1700, presented in table 3. There are probably 11 supernovae (Nos. 17, 27, 30, 45, 57, 60, 67, 68, 70, 82, and 85) in this catalog. Within the past 1000 years there have been 7 supernovae:

A. D. 1006, Lupus

A. D. 1181, Cassiopeia

A. D. 1230, Hercules

A. D. 1604, Ophiuchus

A. D. 1054, Taurus

A. D. 1203, Scorpio

A. D. 1572, Cassiopeia

This material indicates that the frequency of the occurrence of supernovae within the Milky Way system is greater than the previously accepted estimate and that a new supernova appears every 150 years.

Also, some new information pertaining to recurrent novae was obtained during the process of compiling this catalog. In his book Vorontsov-Velyaminov (1948) gives an improved formula for the relation between period and range of brightness:

log P= –2.716+0.512 A.

If we let A=11 mag. (the average magnitude range of novae), we get P=824 years. In our catalog, the interval between the two novae, Nos. 12 and 55, occurring in the same region, is 882 years, and the interval between Nos. 5 and 33 is 719 years; these results agree closely with our estimated figure. Therefore, it is very possible that these two cases are examples of recurrent novae.

FIGURE 1.—The path of Halley’s Comet in A. D. 837.

This catalog compiles observations up to A. D. 1700. The advance of Western astronomy since then has provided us with more complete data. Table 1 presents the apparent distribution of ancient novae according to galactic latitude of 61 novae, 11 supernovae, and 2 recurrent novae. This distribution is shown graphically in figure 2. The novae included in the table are noticeably concentrated in galactic latitude towards the galactic plane; almost half of them are found within the zone of ±20°, and none of them is in the zone ± 70° to ± 90°. This distribution largely coincides with that found in more recent novae data. Also, we found that there are more novae in the south of the galactic plane than in the north, in agreement with the fact that the sun lies north of the galactic plane.

TABLE 1.—Apparent distribution of ancient novae in galactic latitude

FIGURE 2.—The apparent distribution of ancient novae. Solid circles represent novae; crosses, supernovae; dotted circle, recurrent nova; square, south pole of equator.

Table 2 shows the distribution of novae according to galactic longitude. The first six entries include the novae in that celestial hemisphere in the direction of the galactic nucleus; the latter six comprise those in the other celestial hemisphere of the galactic anticenter. This statistical result indicates that there are more novae in the celestial hemisphere toward the galactic anticenter. However, we should remember that part of the very bright Milky Way section below the celestial equator (l from 240° to 300°) could not be observed from the Yellow River region (take ϕ=35°). Allowing for this, we conclude that the apparent distribution of novae is not concentrated towards the galactic center. The concentration towards the galactic center is small, but that towards the galactic plane is large; this would indicate that the novae are found in a flattened subordinate system.

It is possible that this catalog still includes some comets, and is therefore not completely accurate. Further additions and modifications will be needed in the future. The reason for publishing this table now is mainly to offer it as a reference for radio astronomers and investigations in stellar evolution.

It is a great pleasure to express my thanks for the encouragement and help received from Messers. Tsu, Yeh, Tai, and Shklovsky, during the course of this investigation.

TABLE 2.—Apparent distribution of ancient novae in galactic longitude

TABLE 3.—A new catalog of ancient novae

References

BIOT, E. C.

1846. In Connaissance des temps. Paris.

DUYVENDAK, J. J. L.

1942. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, vol. 54, p. 91.

HASE, W. F., AND SHAJN, G. A.

1954. Astron. Journ. Soviet Union, vol. 31, p. 409.

LUNDMARK, K.

1921. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, vol. 33, p. 225.

MAYALL, N. U., AND OORT, J. H.

1942. Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, vol. 54, p. 95.

SCHÖNFELD, E.

1891. Astron. Nachr., vol. 127, p. 153.

SHAJN, G. A., AND HASE, W. F.

1954. Dolk. Akad. Nauk. S. S. R., vol. 96, p. 713.

SHKLOVSKY, I. S.

1954. Dokl. Akad. Nauk. S. S. R., vol. 97, p. 53.

VORONTSOV-VELYAMINOV, B. A.

1948. Gaseous nebulae and new stars. Moscow.

WILLIAMS, J.

1871. Observations of comets from B. C. 611 to 1640 extracted from Chinese annals. London.

Abstract

Previous lists of ancient novae recorded in Chinese history have been revised and augmented to form a new catalog of 90 novae, some of which may be radio point sources. The frequency of supernovae is found to be greater than previous estimates, and novae are found to be noticeably concentrated in galactic latitude towards the galactic plane.

Historical Records of Meteor Showers in China, Korea, and Japan[1]

By Susumu Imoto[2] and Ichiro Hasegawa[3]

About 20 years ago, Iba (1934) published English translations of some ancient historical records of astronomy in the Orient that included many references to meteor showers. From these and other sources (given in table 3) we have compiled a list of ancient showers. Those recorded for China were collected mainly from “Ku-chin t‛u-shu-chi-cheng”; those for Korea were collected from Sekiguchi’s (1917) list. The records made in Japan during the period from 15 B. C. to 1600 A. D. were obtained from Kanda’s (1935) list. The original records, which have not been translated into any foreign language, recently were published in Japan (Imoto and Hasegawa, 1956).

Table 1 lists 118 meteor showers recorded in the Orient during the past 25 centuries. These showers are arranged in order of the solar longitude reduced to the mean equinox of 1950. The date of each appearance is fixed by the name and year of the era, by the moon of the year according to the local lunar calendar, and by the day of the moon, indicated by its old name. Each date is also given according to the Julian calendar before A. D. 1582 and according to the Gregorian calendar after A. D. 1583.

[1] In this paper the authors transliterated the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean words by a method whose results do not always agree with the systems generally accepted by scholars in this country. For this reason, certain changes have been made. To make it easier for a student to consult the oriental sources from which the data were taken (listed in table 3a), the names of the source books have been transliterated according to the following systems: For the Chinese words, the Wade system was used, except for some names of prefectures and districts, where the conventional form is used; for the Japanese words, the Hepburn system; and for the Korean words, the Reischauer system. Also, the forms of some names in the list of historical eras (given in the first column of table 1) have been changed in accordance with the same systems. All other transliteration in text and tables is that of the authors. Because of the reasons mentioned above, there may be a few inconsistencies in transliteration between this paper and the preceding one, “A New Catalog of Ancient Novae,” by Hsi Tsê-tsung, in which the Wade-Giles system was used.

[2] Calendar Association of Japan, Osaka, Japan.

[3] Ananaian Institute of Astro-Computation, Shimizn, Japan.

Table 2 gives brief translations of the recorded description of each meteor shower. Table 3 gives the reference books from which this list was compiled, and in table 3a the name of each source is transliterated according to the local pronunciation in the relevant country.

The distribution of the records, by centuries, is shown in table 4.

Table 5 shows the distribution of the meteor showers (not including those given in table 1 under “Exact date unknown”), according to the sun’s longitude for every 60 degrees. The number of showers identified with known showers listed in current scientific literature is shown in column 3, while the number of showers previously unknown and not identified is shown in column 4. The number of “recurrent” showers listed in column 5 pertains to those showers that appeared more than twice (including the Andromedids). In column 6 is given the total number of recurrent and unidentified meteor showers estimated to occur for every 60 degrees of solar longitude.

Meteor showers seem to be distributed uniformly in solar longitude. An analysis of columns 5 and 6 in table 5 gives us the following:

0.0 ≦ mR ≦ 3.4,

where mR is the mean number of recurrent identified showers for 60° of solar longitude, and

8.4 ≦mR+Non≦ 12.0

where mR+Non is the mean value for the total number of identified and unidentified meteor showers for 60° of solar longitude.

Table 6 lists the recurrent meteor showers and the years of their recorded appearance, with the sun’s longitude given in parentheses. The showers were identified on the basis of the sun’s longitude only. Six well-known meteor showers were definitely identified: the Lyrid, Aquarid, Perseid, Orionid, Leonid, and Andromedid showers. The four unidentified, probably recurrent, showers that were recorded more than twice are designated by capital letters in column 9 of table 1 and in the last column of table 2.

Orbital elements of recent showers are given in columns 4 and 5 of table 6, where i is the inclination of the orbital plane. When i is near 90°, the amount of perturbation of the orbit is supposed to be small. For example, there is almost no change in the longitudes of the ascending node () for the Lyrids and Perseids. Figures 1–3 show the correlations between the sun’s longitude and the ’s of meteor showers (hereafter called the meteor shower’s longitude). The ’s of the parent comets were obtained from Yamamoto’s (1936) catalog and referred to the mean equinox of 1950.0.

FIGURE 1.—Longitudes of Aquarids, Orionids, and Comet Halley. Ordinate, longitude of the sun; abscissa, years; open circles, Aquarids; solid circles, Orionids; solid curve, longitude of ascending node of Comet Halley; dotted circle, recent observation.

AQUARIDS AND ORIONIDS.—In figure 1, the longitudes of Comet Halley and the Aquarid and Orionid showers are shown. The variations of the three longitudes, though the deviations are comparatively large, seem to run nearly parallel to each other. However, the difference between Comet Halley’s and the longitude of the meteor showers is too large for Comet Halley to be considered as associated with the Aquarid or Orionid showers. If we considered only the discrepancies of longitude, we might doubt the real relation existing between these showers and Comet Halley.

LEONIDS.—In figure 2, the longitude of the Leonids and of Comet 1866 I are shown, on the assumption that Comet 1866 I is the same as Comet 1366. It is evident that the trend of these variations in longitude is the same and in good coincidence.

FIGURE 2.—Longitudes of the Leonids and Comets 1366 and 1866 I. Ordinate, longitude of the sun; abscissa, ‛years; solid’ circles, Leonid showers listed in table 6; open circles, Leonid showers listed by Quetelet and others; crosses, longitude of the ascending node of Comets 1366 and 1866 I; dotted circle, recent observation.

ANDROMEDIDS.—In figure 3, the longitudes of the descending nodes of Comet Biela and of the Andromedids are shown. The identification as Andromedids of the shower recorded in 1798 (No. 100 in table 1) has been confirmed by European records of their appearance on December 6. The perturbation of Comet Biela’s orbit is comparatively large, so that it is very difficult to identify recorded showers as Andromedids unless the detailed perturbations of the comet’s orbit are known. Kanda (1948) has suggested that the date of the Andromedids’ appearance was made earlier by 12 days during the years from 1772 to 1866 A. D. Many early showers are listed by Klinkerfues (Fisher, 1931), but before 1798 their identification as Andromedids seem to be doubtful.

OTHER RECURRENT SHOWERS.—Other recurrent meteor showers, which were recorded more than three times at the same solar longitude, are shown in table 6 with the designations A, B, C, and D.

Shower B is probably identical with the Lyncids, with orbital elements and i equal to 167° and 123° respectively. The inclination of the Lyncids’ orbital plane is 123° so that there seem to be only small perturbations in the longitude, as with the Perseids.

FIGURE 3.—Longitudes of Andromedid showers and Comet Biela. Ordinate, longitude of the sun; abscissa, years; solid circles, Andromedid showers listed in table 6; open circles, other observations; dotted circle, recent observation. Extrapolated curve shows longitude of ascending node of Comet Biela.

Showers A, C, and D have not been identified with any showers known from recent observations.

METEOR SHOWERS RECORDED TWICE.—Some additional meteor showers, listed in table 7, were recorded only twice at the same longitude, coinciding with each other within two or three degrees. The third column shows possible identifications by means of longitude.

The age of a meteor shower may be determined from these old records. The present list extends the known activity of the Perseids as far back as 36 A. D. and also presents some “lost” meteor showers, such as those designated A, B, C, and D. It is hoped that records of other showers listed here will be compared further with observations in the European records, so that the life-history of meteor showers may be more exactly determined.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.—In conclusion we express our hearty thanks to Messrs. S. Kanda, K. Kudara, and Y. Iba, who gave us many helpful suggestions.

TABLE 1.—Dates of meteor showers

TABLE 2.—Descriptions of meteor showers

TABLE 3.—Sources of records

TABLE 3a.—Transliteration of record sources in table 3

TABLE 4.—Shower records by centuries

TABLE 5.—Distribution of recorded meteor showers according to the sun’s longitude

TABLE 6.—Year and sun’s longitude of recurrent meteor showers

TABLE 7.—Meteor showers recorded twice

References

FISHER, W. J.

1931. Popular Astron., vol. 39, p. 573; translation from Klinkerfues, E. F. W., 1873, Göttinger Nachr., p. 275.

IBA, Y.

1934. Popular Astron., vol. 42, p. 243.

IMOTO, S., AND HASEGAWA, I.

1956. Kagaku-shi Kenkyu (Journ. Hist. Sci.), No. 37, p. 7.

KANDA, S.

1935. Ancient astronomical records in Japan. (In Japanese.)

1948. Kagaku (Science), vol. 18, p. 329.

SEKIGUCHI, R.

1917. Astron. Herald Japan Astron. Soc., vol. 10, nos. 8 and 9.

YAMAMOTO, A. S.

1936. Publ. Kwasan Obs., vol. 1, no. 4.

Abstract

Ancient records of meteor showers in China, Korea, and Japan have been collected and translated briefly into English. Some of the showers recorded have been identified with those known today, others represent previously unknown or “lost” meteor showers.