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The June Lyrids and James Joyce's Ulysses One of These Meteors, Seen 100 Years Ago, Seemstobedescribed in a Famous Literary Classic

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The June Lyrids and James Joyce's Ulysses One of These Meteors, Seen 100 Years Ago, Seemstobedescribed in a Famous Literary Classic celestial calendar The June Lyrids and James Joyce's Ulysses One of these meteors, seen 100 years ago, seemstobedescribed in a famous literary classic. By Donald W.Olson and Marilynn 5. Olson FOR MORE THAN three decades, meteor tronomy did not recognize enthusiasts have been on the lookout for any annual shower in mid- an elusive shower in mid-June with a radi- June. But a possible early ant in the constellation Lyra. The first re- observation is that of port of it appeared in the pages of Sky & Giuseppe Zezioli, who Telescope {October 1966, page 237], in a let- recorded ll meteors radiat- ter from California observer Stan Dvorak: ing from a point near 18'' 40"', +35°, on June 14, 1869 [Memoirs of the Royal Astro- UNEXPECTED METEOR SHOWER nomical Society, Vol. 53, 1899, FROM LYRA page 273). On the evening of June 15th, I camped We believe that we have in the San Bernardino Mountains, about identified another early 70 miles east of Los Angeles. Weather June Lyrid, one carefully permitting, I often sleep outdoors and described in a famous watch the heavens. On this night I noticed a very bright work of fiction that is meteor moving swiftly to the northeast always listed among the and passing through Lyra. Shortly there- top 10 novels of the 20th Irish-born writer James Joyce (1882-19A1) lived much of his adult after, another traveled in the same direc- century. life in Italy, Switzerland, and France. Carola Giedion-Welcker took tion. Since I usually carry a star chart this photograph of Joyce in Zurich in 1938. on these outings, I plotted meteors. The Meteor in Ulysses In IJ hours, I had recorded 16 meteors, Every year on June I6th, all but three of which were members of the shower. Their magnitudes ranged Dublin and many other cities around the of June 17th. Just as Stephen is taking his from —4 to +4. The majority were very world celebrate "Bloomsday," in honor of leave, with new father-son ties forged be- swift and traveled in a northeasterly di- James Joyce's novel Ulysses. The story par- tween them, a meteor streaks through the rection, appearing to radiate from rough- allels the epic Odyssey by Homer, which constellations [Chapter 17): ly right ascension 1^^^, declination +30°, relates the travels and adventures of near the Lyra-Hercules border. Their Odysseus in the Mediterranean while What celestial sign was by both simulta- colors ranged from bright white to blue- coming back from the Trojan War. Joyce neously observed? green, turning yellow as they neared their burnout points. The meteors left trains chronicles the wanderings of Leopold A star precipitated vrith great apparent visible from three to six seconds. Bloom (the Odysseus of the story) and velocity across the firmament from Vega Stephen Dedalus (standing in for in the Lyre above the zenith beyond the Odysseus's son Telemachus) around stargroup of the Tress of Berenice Dublin, beginning at 8 a.m. on the morn- Observers worldwide confirmed the ex- towards the zodiacal sign of Leo. ing of June 16, 1904. Joyce chose this date istence of the June Lyrids in the late 1960s because it had personal meaning for him: through the 1970s, and then the activity Throughout the novel, the characters, it was the day that he first walked with his ceased. Yet the International Meteor Orga- particularly Bloom, discuss or think about nization (www.imo.net} states, "The proba- future wife, Nora Barnacle. astronomical topics. Bloom is noted as ble maximum in 2004 benefits from a In this complex novel, the journey buying a book with "fine plates in it... nearly-new Moon on June 15, and we urge concludes with both characters together the stars and the moon and comets with all observers who can to cover this possi- in the backyard of Bloom's house [7 Ec- long tails. Astronomy it was about" (Chap- ble stream. The radiant is a few cles Street, at the north end of ter 10). He has a copy of Sir Robert Ball's degrees south of the bright Dublin) in the early-morning hours Story 0/ the Heavens in his library (Chapter star Vega. ... All potential 17) and is familiar with Ball's discussion of June Lyrids should be care- The design of the modern euro coin parallax. Among many other astronomical fully plotted, paying espe- from Ireland features a circle of stars references, the novel mentions an upcom- cial attention to the mete- surrounding an Irish harp, a cousin of ing solar eclipse (Chapter 8), Tycho's su- ors' apparent velocities." the lyre. Collection of Donald W. Olson. pernova of 1572 (Chapter 9), and the con- Before 1966, meteoric as- stellations of "the great bear and Hercules 76 July 2004 Sky & Telescope and the dragon, and the whole jingbang the meteor originated near the "Lyre lot" (Chapter 10}. There is mention of the above the zenith." The bright stars of Lyra Note to Reoders Hyades with the bright star "Alpha, a ruby crossed the Dublin meridian, not far Last month's Celestial Calendar was sa packed and triangled sign upon the forehead of south of the zenith, at 12:54 a.m. (Vega), with predictions of the tronsit of Venus that we Taurus" [Chapter 14), the constellation 1:07 a.m. (Beta Lyrae), and 1:16 a.m. had to postpone this article and the next one hy "Orion with belt and sextuple sun theta [Gamma). Dublin in 1904 had not yet a month. Our July issue goes in the mail in late and nebula," surface markings on Mars, adopted modern time zones, so readers May, so we con still alert readers to a pair of and the appearance of "new stars" like wishing to check these times must use little-known meteor showers thot might he seen Nova Persei 1901 (Chapter 17). Dublin local mean time, 25'" 21^ behind in June 2004. Joyce almost certainly drew some pre- Greenwich. For example. Gamma Lyrae's cise astronomical references in Ulysses upper transit occurred at 1:16 a.m. Dublin from his copy of a Dublin almanac, Thom's local mean time, equivalent to 1:41 a.m. or described by Joyce descended from the Official Directory for 1904. For example, Greenwich (Universal) Time. vicinity of Lyra near the zenith, passed near the end of the novel, in the early- Joyce was aware of this time difference, downward through Coma Berenices, and moming hours of June 17, 1904, Bloom de- corresponding to the longitude difference then disappeared near the horizon where scribes the "moon invisible in incipient lu- between Dunsink Observatory and Green- Leo was setting in the northwest. The de- nation, approaching perigee" (Chapter 17). wich Observatory. Bloom notes that tail and precision of this description sug- Both Thom's almanac and our computer Dublin citizens passing the Ballast Office gest that James Joyce may have observed a calculations agree that a slender, waxing read "Dunsink time" from the clock June Lyrid while walking with Nora on crescent Moon (three days after new) "worked by an electric wire from Dun- June 16-17; 1904, more than six decades would have set before 11 p.m. on June sink," and he also realizes that the time before the shower was recognized. 16th, and that a lunar perigee fell near ball on the building [visible to ships in the This year marks the lOOth anniversary midday on June 17th. harbor) indicates "Greenwich time" [Chap- of June 16, 1904, and people all over the ter 8). For more about that method of time world are celebrating the centenary (see Problems with Timing signaling, see "The Bygone Era of Time www.reioycedublin2004.com). Perhaps af- Although Joyce is a precise writer, he is Balls" by Ian R. Bartky [S&T; January ter a toast or two in an Irish puh, astron- also experimental and difficult to follow. 1987, page 32). omers can also observe Lyra passing near Thus, though each of the 18 chapters is as- The description of Lyra's position there- the zenith and — with luck — see another sociated with a time of day and there are fore supports the Linati time scheme, "celestial sign." many references to clocks, church bells, with Bloom and Dedalus observing the and hours, confusion still exists, particu- meteor between 1:00 and 1:30 a.m. DON OLSON and MARILYNN OLSON are pro- larly toward the latter part of the novel. Dublin local mean time. fessors of astronomy and English, respectively, at Adding to the confusion, Joyce himself As the diagram below shows, the mete- Texas State University. provided two conflicting timetables, one created for Carlo Linati in 1920 and anoth- er published by Stuart Gilbert in 1930. After Bloom and Dedalus see the mete- or, they hear the "sound of the peal of the hour of the night by the chime of the bells in the church of Saint George .... Heigho, heigho, / Heigho, heigho," indicating the half-hour in Westminster chimes. There- HERCULES DRACO fore, as modem scholars have pointed out, the first part of Chapter 17 takes place be- tween 1:00 and 1:30 a.m. according to the Linati scheme, between 2:00 and 2:30 a.m. according to the Gilbert scheme, and pos- sibly even between 3:00 and 3:30 a.m. (Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman, BOOTESr . Ulysses Annotated, 1988, page 586). Arcturus Upper Transits URSA We realized that the time of night could ,MAJOR be determined from Joyce's statement that VIRGO 'COMA , .BERENICES This chart of the sky above Dublin ot 1:00 a.m.
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