Meteor procession of February 9, 1913
Encyclopedia
The meteor procession of February 9, 1913, was a unique meteoric
phenomenon reported from locations across Canada
, the north-eastern United States
, Bermuda
and from several ships at sea, including one off Brazil
, giving a total recorded track of some 5659 miles (9105 km). The meteors were particularly unusual in that there was no apparent radiant
, that is to say, no apparent point in the sky from which the meteors appeared to originate. The observations were analysed in detail, later the same year, by the astronomer Clarence Chant
, leading him to conclude that as all accounts were positioned along a great circle
arc, the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite
of the Earth.
John A. O'Keefe
, who conducted several studies of the event, proposed that the meteors should be referred to as the Cyrillids, in reference to the feast day of Cyril of Alexandria
(February 9 in the Roman Catholic
calendar from 1882-1969).
, with additional observations unearthed by later researchers. At around 9pm EST, witnesses were surprised to see a procession of between 40 and 60 bright, slow-moving fireballs moving from horizon to horizon in a practically identical path. Individual fireballs were visible for at least 30 to 40 seconds, and the entire procession took some 5 minutes to cross the sky. An observer at Appin, Ontario
, described its appearance at one of the most westerly parts of its track:
Subsequent observers also noted a large, white, tail-less body bringing up the rear, but the various bodies making up the meteor procession continued to disintegrate and to travel at different rates throughout their course, so that by the time observations were made in Bermuda, the leading bodies were described as "like large arc lights in appearance, slightly violet in colour", followed closely by yellow and red fragments.
Research carried out in the 1950s by Alexander D. Mebane uncovered a handful of reports from newspaper archives in the northern United States. At Escanaba, Michigan
, the Press
stated the "end of the world was apprehended by many" as numerous meteors travelled across the northern horizon. In Batavia, New York
, a few observers saw the meteors and many people heard a thundering noise, while other reports were made in Nunda, Dansville (where several residents again thought the world was ending) and Osceola, Pennsylvania.
, reported seeing both the initial meteor procession and a second one on the same course at 2:20 am. Chant's original report also referred to a series of three groups of "dark objects" which passed, on the same course as the previous meteors, from west to east over Toronto
on the afternoon of February 10, which he suggested were "something of a meteoric nature".
noted that at eight stations in Canada a trembling of the house or ground was felt. In many other places loud, thunder-like sounds were heard, occasionally by people who had not actually seen the meteors themselves. Pickering used the sound reports to perform a check on the height of the meteors, which he calculated at 35 miles (56 km).
, who wrote about the meteors in vol. 7 of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. The orbit was later discussed by Pickering and G. J. Burns, who concluded that it was essentially satellitic. Although this explanation was later attacked by Charles Wylie
, who attempted to prove that the shower had a radiant, further studies by Lincoln LaPaz
(who criticised Wylie's methods as "unscientific") and John O'Keefe showed that the meteors had most likely represented a body, or group of bodies, which had been temporarily captured into orbit about the Earth before disintegrating.
O'Keefe later suggested that the meteors, which he referred to as the "Cyrillids", could have in fact represented the last remnant of a circumterrestrial ring
, formed from the ejecta of a postulated lunar volcano. This theory was a development of O'Keefe's unusual hypothesis on the origin of tektites.
METEOR
METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
phenomenon reported from locations across Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the north-eastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
and from several ships at sea, including one off Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, giving a total recorded track of some 5659 miles (9105 km). The meteors were particularly unusual in that there was no apparent radiant
Radiant (meteor shower)
The radiant or apparent radiant of a meteor shower is the point in the sky, from which meteors appear to originate. The Perseids, for example, are meteors which appear to come from a point within the constellation of Perseus....
, that is to say, no apparent point in the sky from which the meteors appeared to originate. The observations were analysed in detail, later the same year, by the astronomer Clarence Chant
Clarence Chant
Clarence Augustus Chant was a Canadian astronomer and physicist.He was born in Hagermans Corners, Ontario to Christopher Chant and Elizabeth Croft. In 1882 he attended Markham High School, where he demonstrated a mathematical ability. After graduation he attended St. Catherines Collegiate...
, leading him to conclude that as all accounts were positioned along a great circle
Great circle
A great circle, also known as a Riemannian circle, of a sphere is the intersection of the sphere and a plane which passes through the center point of the sphere, as opposed to a general circle of a sphere where the plane is not required to pass through the center...
arc, the source had been a small, short-lived natural satellite
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
of the Earth.
John A. O'Keefe
John A. O'Keefe
John Aloysius O'Keefe was a planetary scientist with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from 1958 to 1995. He is credited with the discovery of Earth's "pear shape" using U.S. Vanguard satellite data collected in the late 1950s...
, who conducted several studies of the event, proposed that the meteors should be referred to as the Cyrillids, in reference to the feast day of Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries...
(February 9 in the Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
calendar from 1882-1969).
Events of February 9
The evening of February 9th was cloudy across much of the densely populated north-east of the United States, meaning that some 30 million potential observers were for the most part unaware of the phenomenon. Nevertheless, over a hundred individual reports - largely from more remote areas of Canada - were later collected by Clarence ChantClarence Chant
Clarence Augustus Chant was a Canadian astronomer and physicist.He was born in Hagermans Corners, Ontario to Christopher Chant and Elizabeth Croft. In 1882 he attended Markham High School, where he demonstrated a mathematical ability. After graduation he attended St. Catherines Collegiate...
, with additional observations unearthed by later researchers. At around 9pm EST, witnesses were surprised to see a procession of between 40 and 60 bright, slow-moving fireballs moving from horizon to horizon in a practically identical path. Individual fireballs were visible for at least 30 to 40 seconds, and the entire procession took some 5 minutes to cross the sky. An observer at Appin, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, described its appearance at one of the most westerly parts of its track:
A huge meteor appeared, travelling from northwest by west to southeast, which, as it approached, was seen to be in two parts, and looked like two bars of flaming material, one following the other. They were throwing out a constant stream of sparks, and after they had passed they shot out balls of fire straight ahead that travelled more rapidly than the main bodies. They seemed to pass over slowly, and were in sight about five minutes. Immediately after their disappearance in the southeast a ball of clear fire that looked like a big star, passed across the sky in their wake. This ball did not have a tail or show sparks of any kind. Instead of being yellow like the meteors, it was clear like a star.
Subsequent observers also noted a large, white, tail-less body bringing up the rear, but the various bodies making up the meteor procession continued to disintegrate and to travel at different rates throughout their course, so that by the time observations were made in Bermuda, the leading bodies were described as "like large arc lights in appearance, slightly violet in colour", followed closely by yellow and red fragments.
Research carried out in the 1950s by Alexander D. Mebane uncovered a handful of reports from newspaper archives in the northern United States. At Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located in the banana belt on the state's Upper Peninsula. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 13,140, making it the third-largest city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie...
, the Press
Daily Press (Michigan)
The Daily Press is a newspaper published in Escanaba, Michigan, United States. Serving Delta, Schoolcraft, and northern Menominee counties, the Daily Press publishes Monday through Saturday. Its offices are located at 600 Ludington St. in downtown Escanaba....
stated the "end of the world was apprehended by many" as numerous meteors travelled across the northern horizon. In Batavia, New York
Batavia (city), New York
Batavia is a city in Genesee County, Western New York, USA, located near the middle of Genesee County, entirely within the Town of Batavia. Its population as of the 2000 census was 16,256...
, a few observers saw the meteors and many people heard a thundering noise, while other reports were made in Nunda, Dansville (where several residents again thought the world was ending) and Osceola, Pennsylvania.
February 10
One curious feature of the reports, highlighted by Mebane, was that several appeared to indicate a second meteor procession on the same course around 5 hours later, although the Earth's rotation meant that there was no obvious mechanism to explain this. One observer, an A. W. Brown from Thamesville, OntarioThamesville, Ontario
Thamesville is a community in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the junction of former provincial Highways 2 and 21, between Chatham and London. Its name comes from the Thames River that flows nearby and the suffix -ville....
, reported seeing both the initial meteor procession and a second one on the same course at 2:20 am. Chant's original report also referred to a series of three groups of "dark objects" which passed, on the same course as the previous meteors, from west to east over Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
on the afternoon of February 10, which he suggested were "something of a meteoric nature".
Accompanying sounds
William Henry PickeringWilliam Henry Pickering
William Henry Pickering was an American astronomer, brother of Edward Charles Pickering. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1883.-Work:...
noted that at eight stations in Canada a trembling of the house or ground was felt. In many other places loud, thunder-like sounds were heard, occasionally by people who had not actually seen the meteors themselves. Pickering used the sound reports to perform a check on the height of the meteors, which he calculated at 35 miles (56 km).
Analysis
The first detailed study of the reports was produced by the Canadian astronomer Clarence ChantClarence Chant
Clarence Augustus Chant was a Canadian astronomer and physicist.He was born in Hagermans Corners, Ontario to Christopher Chant and Elizabeth Croft. In 1882 he attended Markham High School, where he demonstrated a mathematical ability. After graduation he attended St. Catherines Collegiate...
, who wrote about the meteors in vol. 7 of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. The orbit was later discussed by Pickering and G. J. Burns, who concluded that it was essentially satellitic. Although this explanation was later attacked by Charles Wylie
Charles Wylie
Charles Clayton Wylie was the first PhD graduate from University of Illinois' astronomy department. He graduated with his doctorate in 1922 for his work "The Eclipsing Binary Sigma Aquilae, the Cepheid Variable Eta Aquilae." He remained at the University of Illinois Observatory as an instructor...
, who attempted to prove that the shower had a radiant, further studies by Lincoln LaPaz
Lincoln LaPaz
Lincoln LaPaz was an American astronomer from the University of New Mexico and a pioneer in the study of meteors.He was born in Wichita, Kansas on February 12, 1897 to Charles Melchior LaPaz and Emma Josephine . He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1920 in mathematics at Fairmont College and also...
(who criticised Wylie's methods as "unscientific") and John O'Keefe showed that the meteors had most likely represented a body, or group of bodies, which had been temporarily captured into orbit about the Earth before disintegrating.
O'Keefe later suggested that the meteors, which he referred to as the "Cyrillids", could have in fact represented the last remnant of a circumterrestrial ring
Planetary ring
A planetary ring is a ring of cosmic dust and other small particles orbiting around a planet in a flat disc-shaped region.The most notable planetary rings known in Earth's solar system are those around Saturn, but the other three gas giants of the solar system possess ring systems of their...
, formed from the ejecta of a postulated lunar volcano. This theory was a development of O'Keefe's unusual hypothesis on the origin of tektites.