130 Meteor of Dec. 14, 1837- 



Art. XIII. — Account of a Meteor seen ill Connecticut^ December 

 14, 1837 ; with some considerations on the Meteorite which ex- 

 ploded near Weston, Dec. 14^ 1807; by Edwarb C. HerricKj 

 Rec. Sec. Conn. Acad. 



Opi the evening of Thursday, the 14th of December, 1837, a 

 meteoric fire-ball of great splendor, was seen by many persons in 

 this vicinity. At the time of its appearance, Mr. A. B. Haile and 

 myself were abroad here, engaged in making observations on 

 shooting stars in concert with Messrs. F. A. P. Barnard, J. D. Dana, 

 and J. H. Pettingell, in New York. Our attention was exclu- 

 sively directed to the northeastern part of the heavens, and the 

 western quarter, in which the meteor appeared, was unfortunately 

 concealed from view at our station by a contiguous building. A 

 brilliant flash suddenly illuminated the roof on which we stood, 

 and concluding at once that the unseen source of the light must 

 be a meteor of uncommon splendor, we' noted the time. It was 



7h. 39m. 32s. P. M. 



I was not able, after much inquiry, to. ascertain the position of 



the meteor at its first appearance. Th'e testimony of two inde- 

 pendent witnesses several rods distant from each other, near the 

 middle of this city, coincided as to the, azimuth of the point of 

 extinction, and furnished me with data ifor fixing it at S. 89^^ ^^• 

 The altitude was less certain, but appeared to be about 9 



The meteor was much more splendid than Yenus. It was ap- 

 parently, according to the estimates of diiFerent observers, from 

 one fourth to three fourths as large as the full moon. It moved 

 downwards from a point between S. and W. at an angle of from 

 30^ to 50^ with a vertical, to the point before indicated, where it 

 appeared to explode, and to throw down one or more large frag- 

 ments. The time of flight was 1 or 1.5 seconds. It was attended 

 by a long and broad train of scintillations, some part of which re- 

 mained visible for about ten seconds, and of course, long after the 

 meteor was extinct. It is uncertain whether the report of the 

 explosion was heard here. If audible at this distance, the sound 

 would not have arrived until two or three minutes after the disap- 

 pearance of the meteor, and unless very heavy, it might easily 

 have passed unnoticed amidst the noise of the city. 



