The 1783 Great Meteor was a
meteor procession
A meteor procession occurs when an Earth-grazing meteor breaks apart, and the fragments travel across the sky in the same path. According to physicist Donald Olson, only a few occurrences are known, including:Falk, DanForensic astronomer solves ...
observed on 18 August 1783 from the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, at a time when such phenomena were not well understood. The meteor was the subject of much discussion in the ''
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...
'' and was the subject of a detailed study by
Charles Blagden.
Observations
The event occurred between 21:15 and 21:30 on 18 August 1783, a clear, dry night. Analysis of observations has indicated that the meteor entered Earth's atmosphere over the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
, before passing over the east coast of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
; it finally broke up, after a passage within the atmosphere of around a thousand miles (around 1600 km), over south-western
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
or northern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
There were many witnesses. Perhaps the most prominent was
Tiberius Cavallo
Tiberius Cavallo (also Tiberio) (30 March 1749, Naples, Italy21 December 1809, London, England) was an Italian physicist and natural philosopher.
His interests included electricity, the development of scientific instruments, the nature of " ai ...
, an Italian
natural philosopher
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...
who had happened to be amongst a group of people on the terrace at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
at the time the meteor appeared. Cavallo published his account of the phenomenon in v. 74 of the ''Philosophical Transactions'' :
Cavallo noted both that the meteor, which was visible for around thirty seconds in total, appeared to split into several smaller bodies (a
meteor procession
A meteor procession occurs when an Earth-grazing meteor breaks apart, and the fragments travel across the sky in the same path. According to physicist Donald Olson, only a few occurrences are known, including:Falk, DanForensic astronomer solves ...
) immediately following the main mass and that a rumbling noise, "as it were of thunder at a great distance", was heard around ten minutes after the meteor appeared, which he speculated "was the report of the meteor's explosion". Other accounts, such as those of
Alexander Aubert
Alexander Aubert FRS FSA, (1730–1805), was an eminent English amateur astronomer and businessman.
Life
He was born at Austin Friars, London, 11 May 1730. The appearance of the Great Comet of 1744 gave him, then a schoolboy at Geneva, a per ...
and
Richard Lovell Edgeworth
Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor.
Biography
Edgeworth was born in Pierrepont Street, Bath, England, son of Richard Edgeworth senior, and great-grandson of Sir Sal ...
, noted red and blue colour tints in the fireball.
Some accounts appeared rather more fanciful; the ''
London Magazine
''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and miscellaneous topics.
1732–1785
''The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly I ...
'' mentioned a letter by a lieutenant on a British warship which had been positioned north of Ireland "who relates he saw the same meteor moving along the north-east quarter
..but he adds something singular enough, namely, that a little time afterwards, he saw it moving back again, the contrary way to which it came".
["Account of the Late Meteors...", ''The London Magazine'', v.52, 495] The author added that "several other observations of this meteor have come into my hands, but they are so inconsistent with these already related, as well as with one another, that I forebear to mention them".
["Account of the Late Meteors", 496]
Gilbert White
Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a " parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''.
Life
White was born on ...
, writing in 1787, was to remember the "amazing and portentous" summer of 1783 as "full of horrible phaenomena
..alarming meteors and tremendous thunder-storms that affrighted and distressed the different counties of this kingdom".
[White, G. ''The Natural History of Selborne'', Letter CIX
(to the Hon. Daines Barrington)]
Visual depictions
One of Cavallo's five companions on the terrace was the artist
Thomas Sandby
Thomas Sandby (1721 – 25 June 1798) was an English draughtsman, watercolour artist, architect and teacher. In 1743 he was appointed private secretary to the Duke of Cumberland, who later appointed him Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park, wh ...
, who in collaboration with his brother
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
based a now well-known engraving on the event.
[Beech, 132] A print
[Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, GLAHA3765.]
of this engraving is in the collection of the
Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery
The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...
at
Glasgow University
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
. A second engraving was produced by a schoolmaster, Henry Robinson, who observed the meteor from the village of
Winthorpe,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
.
[Beech, 131] Further engravings, based on the drawings of the authors and presented in a fold-out form, were included with articles by Cavallo and
Nathaniel Pigott
Nathaniel Pigott (1725–1804) was an English astronomer, noted for his observations of eclipses, a transit of Venus and a transit of Mercury, and comets. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society on 16 January 1772, a foreign member of the Im ...
in the ''Philosophical Transactions''.
[Olson & Pasachoff, p.63]
A painting traditionally thought to be of the 1759 apparition of
Halley's Comet
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the o ...
and attributed to the "English
Canaletto
Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.
Painter of city views or ...
",
Samuel Scott, has in more recent years been interpreted as depicting a large fireball meteor given its generally uncometary appearance.
Further work by
Jay Pasachoff
Jay Myron Pasachoff (July 1, 1943 – November 20, 2022) was an American astronomer. Pasachoff was Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams College and the author of textbooks and tradebooks in astronomy, physics, mathematics, and other ...
and Roberta Olson has suggested that the painting is not in fact by Scott, and that it depicts the third stage of the 1783 fireball, viewed over the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
.
[Olson & Pasachoff, pp. 76–77]
Possible relation to meteorite falls
It has been speculated that the Hambleton
Pallasite, a rare type of meteorite found in 2005 in
Hambleton,
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
, may be related to the 1783 Great Meteor, based on the latter's track, and on weathering on the pallasite's surface.
In support of this, in 2008 the terrestrial age of the Hambleton meteorite was determined to be around 225 years.
See also
*
Earth-grazing fireball
An Earth-grazing fireball (or Earth grazer) is a fireball, a very bright meteor that enters Earth’s atmosphere and leaves again. Some fragments may impact Earth as meteorites, if the meteor starts to break up or explodes in mid-air. These phenom ...
*
1972 Great Daylight Fireball
The Great Daylight Fireball (also known as the Grand Teton Meteor ) was an Earth-grazing fireball that passed within of Earth's surface at 20:29 UTC on August 10, 1972. It entered Earth's atmosphere at a speed of in daylight over Utah, Unite ...
References
External links
"Crowd-sourcing eighteenth-century science: the Great Fireball of 1783" ''The Repository'', the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
History of Science blog, Noah Moxham, 16 October 2013
Sandby aquatint of observation from the terrace at Windsor British Library
Mezzotint based on Robinson's depiction of meteor seen from Winthorpe British Museum
{{Authority control
Meteoroids
Modern Earth impact events
1783 in Great Britain
17830818
Astronomy in the United Kingdom