168. THE ZODIACAL LIGHT is an effect probably due to the reflection of sunlight from the myriads of these tiny meteors which occupy the space inside the earth's orbit. It is a faint and diffuse stream of light, something like the Milky Way, which may be seen in the early evening or morning stretching up from the sunrise or sunset point of the horizon along the ecliptic and following its course for many degrees, possibly around the entire circumference of the sky. It may be seen at any season of the year, although it shows to the best advantage in spring evenings and autumn mornings. Look for it.
169. GREAT METEORS.--But there are other meteors, veritable fireballs in appearance, far more conspicuous and imposing than the ordinary shooting star. Such a one exploded over the city of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of February 10, 1896, giving in broad sunlight "a brilliant flash which was followed ninety seconds later by a succession of terrific noises like the discharge of a battery of artillery." Fig. 111 shows a large meteor which was seen in California in the early evening of July 27, 1894, and which left behind it a luminous trail or cloud visible for more than half an hour.
Not infrequently large meteors are found traveling together, two or three or more in company, making their appearance simultaneously as did the California meteor of October 22, 1896, which is described as triple, the trio following one another like a train of cars, and Arago cites an instance, from the year 1830, where within a short space of time some forty brilliant meteors crossed the sky, all moving in the same direction with a whistling noise and displaying in their flight all the colors of the rainbow.
The mass of great meteors such as these must be measured in hundreds if not thousands of pounds, and stories are current, although not very well authenticated, of even larger ones, many tons in weight, having been found partially buried in the ground. Of meteors which have been actually seen to fall from the sky, the largest single fragment recovered weighs about 500 pounds, but it is only a fragment of the original meteor, which must have been much more massive before it was broken up by collision with the atmosphere.