Page 564 - 89 history of astronomy_opt
P. 564
meteor cluster was at perihelion. The pe-
riod being known, the eccentricity of the
orbit was obtainable, also the orbital ve-
locity of the meteors in perihelion; and, by
comparing this with the earth’s velocity, the
latitude of the radiant enabled the inclina-
tion to be determined, while the longitude
of the earth that night was the longitude
of the node. In such a way Schiaparelli was
564