Abstract
THE very brilliant meteor which made its appearance at about 10h. 30m. on Sunday night, July 13, is on record, so far as is known at present (July 26), as having been seen from 106 places. A large proportion of these are in the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Kent and Essex, while isolated accounts come from as far away as Devon, Wales, Lancashire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Many reports of the phenomenon give no details whatever; very few give trustworthy data concerning its path in the heavens. The meteor was fortunately seen by Mr. Denning at Bristol, and from descriptions by him and a few other observers who carefully noted the position of the meteor its approximate real path in the air has been computed. At its first appearance the object seems to have been at an elevation of 86½ miles, the place of its final extinction being 52½ miles over the Straits of Dover. The course of 45 miles was over a line 11 miles to the west of one joining St. Omer and Cape Gris Nez. The fireball must have presented a splendid sight to the inhabitants of the district of France over which it passed, and it is greatly to be hoped that some descriptions will be available from there in order that the above result may be confirmed or corrected.
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BESLEY, W. The Recent Fireball. Nature 66, 320 (1902). https://doi.org/10.1038/066320b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/066320b0
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