Historical meteor shower

An open forum where all registered users can post on meteorite related topics. No advertisements are permitted in this forum. For access to the secure BIMS members forum please follow the "Join BIMS" link from the main website.

Historical meteor shower

Postby snayke » Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:38 am

Hello, whilst browsing an old book for botanical interest ( ,sorry, I’m Paul.) I came across this which I give verbatim for your interest. Before you read on though, be warned, its so good the longing may hurt. . .

‘On the hill above Malvern Wells, Dr. Addison once saw a singular spectacle of meteors on November 13, 1832, which he communicated to the Royal Society, and thus described : “On my return from Malvern Wells, at half-past one in the morning of Tuesday the 13th of November, my attention was arrested by a sudden burst of vivid light in the heavens. The moon was at the time shining brilliantly, and the line of light continued three or four seconds, and then gradually melted away into a thin nebulous appearance, which bent and contorted itself very curiously. The weather the whole of the preceding day had been extremely foggy ; but, as is sometimes the case at Malvern, those houses situated highest upon the declivity of the hill were quite above the dense vapour, which was spread out like a vast sea below, undulating to and fro, sometimes reaching and shrouding higher portions of the hill, and then subsiding, leaving them quite clear. The vapour was in this condition when the light excited my notice. In descending the hill I became enveloped in fog ; the moon then became partially obscured, and the stars quite invisible. I shortly afterwards observed a slight flash of light, and a post-boy whom I met with, stated that he had seen lightning through the fog several times ; and once in particular, about two hours previous, the sky, to use his own expression, opened and shut, but not like common lightning. This information induced me to continue my observation, and I soon perceived through the mist a very large meteor shoot across, leaving a long line of light behind. I resolved to mount the hill, in order to get clear of the fog, and endeavour to ascertain from what cause these lights proceeded. Having ascended a considerable distance, and emerged from the dense vapour below, I found the moon and stars shining most brilliantly, the atmosphere calm, and the hoar-frost coating the ground. Continuing my ascent towards the summit, I beheld one of the most extraordinary and beautiful spectacles that was ever witnessed – a constant succession of meteors of various degrees of magnitude and brilliancy. The smaller meteors were like what are vulgarly termed shooting-stars, leaving behind them a train of pale light ; those of a larger description were much more brilliant, and, notwithstanding the brightness of the moon, they threw a strong glare upon every thing around. The latter always commenced from a small luminous point, rapidly increasing in size and brilliancy, shooting with great swiftness across a considerable arch, and then suddenly disappearing, leaving behind a long train of very vivid white light, which slowly became changed into a pale yellow, the latter remaining sometimes for two or three minutes, occasionally even for a still longer period, becoming broader, contorted, and faint before entirely vanishing from my view. At one time, three of four of these luminous bodies would appear at the same moment, frequently two very near together ; at another, I could scarcely turn sufficiently quick to observe the spot whence the glare of light arose. Once, in particular, three very large meteors became visible at the same moment, presenting a most beautiful appearance. The recurrence of these phenomena was so rapid and continued, that in the brief space of five minutes, by turning about in different directions, I counted forty-eight of these meteors, of different magnitudes. In contemplating this scene, of the sublimity of which I had no previous conception, a variety of ideas crowded upon my mind. My situation was novel in the extreme ; standing upon a dark pinnacle of the hill, sparkling here and there with large crystals of hoar-frost, shut out, as it were, from the world by a vast sea of white vapour, whilst meteors of great magnitude and brilliancy were momentarily bursting upon me, I felt some degree of awe ; and should have descended, but for my desire to continue my observations, which I did for upwards of an hour. In order that the reader may form some idea of these luminous bodies, I will here observe, that they varied in size and brilliancy from a magnitude equal to Mars or Jupiter to that of a Roman candle ; some being even much larger than the latter, throwing out a strong glare around, and leaving a long stream of light behind. It is, perhaps, impossible to judge with any degree of accuracy of the distance which these bodies were from me ; the smaller meteors appeared to be near, but the larger and more brilliant ones far off.’

-from:
Pictures of Nature in the Silurian Region around the Malvern Hills and the Vale of Severn.
-by:
Edwin Lees, F.L.S.
-published:
Malvern: H.W. Lamb, Royal Library. D. Bogue, London.
1856
snayke
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:04 pm

Return to BIMS Open Forum

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests

cron