November Meteor Showers

Abstract

The history of the Andromedids is directly linked to the history of the remarkable periodic comet 3D/Biela. The comet was discovered on three occasions before its periodic nature became known: first by J. L. Montaigne (Límoges, France) on 1772 March 8, second by J. L. Pons (Marseilles, France) on 1805 November 10, and finally by W. von Biela (Josephstadt, Germany) on 1826 February 27. The apparitions of 1772 and 1805 involved short observation periods of only 29 and 36 days, respectively, but during 1826, the comet was observed for 72 days, which enabled Biela to mathematically link all three apparitions and declare the discovery of a new periodic comet. The comet was successfully recovered by J. F. W. Herschel (Slough, England) on 1932 September 24.¹