nPostednon August 18, 2016
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nOncenin a while a meteor is so huge and bright in the sky that it becomesnthe talk of the town. “Did you see—?” everyone asks onenanother. “What was that?” n
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nImaginenyou are on the terrace of Windsor Castle, in England, on this date inn1783. Being on the terrace of a castle would be wonderful enough, butnthen you see this:
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nSomenflashes of lambent light, much like the aurora borealis, were firstnobserved on the northern part of the heavens, which were soonnperceived to proceed from a roundish luminous body, whose apparentndiameter equaled half that of the moon, and almost stationary in thensame point of the heavens..
This ball at first appeared of anfaint bluish light, perhaps from appearing just kindled, or from itsnappearing through the haziness; but it gradually increased its light,nand soon began to move, at first ascending above the horizon in annoblique direction towards the east. Its course in this direction wasnvery short, perhaps of five or six degrees; after which it directednits course towards the east…
Its light was prodigious. Everynobject appeared very distinct; the whole face of the country, in thatnbeautiful prospect before the terrace, being instantly illuminated.
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| This painting was made by an artist who was also on that terrace of Windsor Castle that night… |
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nThenmeteor was visible for about 30 seconds. If that seems like a supernshort time to you, remember that most meteors are visible for lessnthan a second. Close your eyes and count “one-one-thousand,ntwo-one-thousand, three-one-thousand…” all the way up ton“thirty-one-thousand” – that’s 30 seconds. Can you imaginenseeing a “falling star” in the sky for that long? It seemsnremarkable, doesn’t it?
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nThenItalian man who wrote the description above pointed out that thenmeteor appeared to split into several smaller bodies, and speculatednthat the rumbling thunder-like noise he heard ten minutes after thenmeteor appeared might have been the meteor bits exploding in the airnor crash-landing on the ground.
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nThisnmeteor was so large it is called a fireball. Another term for a bright meteor is bolide.nn
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nTonlearn more about meteors, check out this earlier post.
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nAlsonon this date:
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Anniversary of the discovery of helium
Anniversary of the discovery of helium n
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SerendipitynDay
SerendipitynDayn
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BadnPoetry Day
BadnPoetry Dayn
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nAnniversarynof the start of the Wilkes Expedition
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nAnniversarynof the first child of English parents to be born in the Americas
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nDisappearancenDay
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Plannahead:
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Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
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n Augustn holidays
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n Augustn birthdays
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n n Historicaln anniversaries in August
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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n Septembern holidays
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n Septembern birthdays
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n n Historicaln anniversaries in September
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