Posted
on August 18, 2016
Once
in a while a meteor is so huge and bright in the sky that it becomes
the talk of the town. “Did you see—?” everyone asks one
another. “What was that?”
Imagine
you are on the terrace of Windsor Castle, in England, on this date in
1783. Being on the terrace of a castle would be wonderful enough, but
then you see this:
Some
flashes of lambent light, much like the aurora borealis, were first
observed on the northern part of the heavens, which were soon
perceived to proceed from a roundish luminous body, whose apparent
diameter equaled half that of the moon, and almost stationary in the
same point of the heavens..
This ball at first appeared of a faint bluish light, perhaps from appearing just kindled, or from its appearing through the haziness; but it gradually increased its light, and soon began to move, at first ascending above the horizon in an oblique direction towards the east. Its course in this direction was very short, perhaps of five or six degrees; after which it directed its course towards the east...
Its light was prodigious. Every object appeared very distinct; the whole face of the country, in that beautiful prospect before the terrace, being instantly illuminated.
This ball at first appeared of a faint bluish light, perhaps from appearing just kindled, or from its appearing through the haziness; but it gradually increased its light, and soon began to move, at first ascending above the horizon in an oblique direction towards the east. Its course in this direction was very short, perhaps of five or six degrees; after which it directed its course towards the east...
Its light was prodigious. Every object appeared very distinct; the whole face of the country, in that beautiful prospect before the terrace, being instantly illuminated.
 |
| This painting was made by an artist who was also on that terrace of Windsor Castle that night... |
The
meteor was visible for about 30 seconds. If that seems like a super
short time to you, remember that most meteors are visible for less
than a second. Close your eyes and count “one-one-thousand,
two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand...” all the way up to
“thirty-one-thousand” – that's 30 seconds. Can you imagine
seeing a “falling star” in the sky for that long? It seems
remarkable, doesn't it?
The
Italian man who wrote the description above pointed out that the
meteor appeared to split into several smaller bodies, and speculated
that the rumbling thunder-like noise he heard ten minutes after the
meteor appeared might have been the meteor bits exploding in the air
or crash-landing on the ground.
This
meteor was so large it is called a fireball. Another term for a bright meteor is bolide.
To
learn more about meteors, check out this earlier post.
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on this date:
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