ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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On This Day in Space: Feb. 9, 1913: Great meteor procession of 1913

By Hanneke Weitering

___February 9: Great Meteor Procession of 1913


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On Feb. 9, 1913, hundreds of fireball meteors rained down on North America for no apparent reason. This strange event is known as the Great Meteor Procession of 1913.

With typical meteor showers, meteors appear to originate from the same point in the sky called the radiant. But these meteors weren't shooting out from any kind of radiant.




~ This painting by artist and amateur astronomer Gustav Hahn depicts the meteor procession of Feb. 9, 1923 as observed in High Park, Toronto. Hahn estimated that the fireballs passed about halfway between Rigel and the Belt of Orion.

Instead, they seemed to be flying in formation and moving horizontally through the sky, parallel to Earth's surface. The meteors were also moving unusually slow, and the procession lasted for several minutes.

To this day, astronomers aren't really sure what was up with this bizarre meteor shower.



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)