Andromedids Display of 1872

In 1868, Edmund Weiss determined that the Earth would intersect the orbit of Biela's Comet in 1872, and a strong meteor shower was observed at that time. The Andromedids produced a spectacular display of several thousand meteors per hour in 1872 as a result of Earth crossing the comet's debris stream. Schmidt, observing from Athens, reported mainly faint (5th to 6th magnitude) meteors with "broad and smoke-like" trains and predominantly orange or reddish colouration. In England, Lowe estimated at least 58,600 visible meteors between 5.50 and 10.30 pm, found the meteors much slower than the Leonids, and noted noises "like very distant gun-shots" several times to the north-west. The supplied passages do not state a specific date or a French observing location; the 27 November date and Paris locality are unverified legacy-row approximations.