Abstract
December 17, 1911, shortly after 5 p.m., while watching the dying glories of one of the loveliest sunsets I have ever seen, I saw a meteor fall in the west and burst into about twenty most brilliant balls, like an exploding rocket. I estimate that it appeared when about 20° above the horizon, and traversed perhaps 5° before bursting. It left a vertical and broad streak of white light on the sky, which very slowly became deflected from the perpendicular to the N.W., and when at about an angle of 45° it faded gradually into two patches of white cloud, which ultimately assumed a horizontal position. These retained their pale white colour until after the other clouds had become quite dark, and they did not disappear until they were obscured by some of these clouds passing over them. It was seen from Beni-Hassan on the Nile, 167 miles south of Cairo, from the deck of one of Cook's steamers.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
C., J. A Bright Fireball. Nature 88, 449 (1912). https://doi.org/10.1038/088449d0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/088449d0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.