Aerolites.—Meteors enter our atmosphere with such great velocity that the friction induced by their impact is sufficient to destroy them by combustion. They rarely approach the Earth’s surface within 15 miles. Occasionally, however, a slow-moving meteor of large size, and formed of a very compact substance, will penetrate entirely through the air-strata and fall upon the Earth’s surface. Many instances of the kind have been recorded, and a few of these are quoted below:—
1478 B.C. The Parian chronicle records that an aerolite or thunder-stone fell in the island of Crete. This appears to be the earliest stone-fall described in history.
654 B.C. A shower of stones descended near Rome.
465 B.C. A stone, surrounded with fire, fell in Thrace. This stone is referred to by several ancient writers. It was termed the “Mother of the Gods” and is said to have fallen at the feet of the poet Pindar.
52 B.C. A shower of iron descended at Lucania, in the time of Crassus.
1492 A.D. A stone weighing 262 lb. fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace.
1642. A stone of 4 lb. fell near Woodbridge, in Suffolk.
1795, Dec. 13. A stone of 56 lb. fell at Wold Cottage, Thwing, Yorkshire.
1860, July 14. A shower of aerolites fell at Dhurmsala, in India. A tremendous detonation attended their descent, and the natives became greatly alarmed. They supposed the stones to have been thrown by some of their deities from the summit of the Himalayas, and many of them were preserved as objects of religious veneration.
1864, May 14. A very large meteor was observed in France. At Montauban and the neighbourhood deafening explosions occurred, and showers of stones fell near the villages of Orgueil and Nohic.
1876, April 20. A piece of iron weighing 7-3/4 lb. fell at Rowton, Shropshire.
1881, March 14. A stone weighing 3 lb. 8-1/4 oz. fell at Middlesborough, Yorkshire, on a part of the North-Eastern Railway Company’s branch line. The descent of the aerolite was witnessed by an inspector and three platelayers, who were working about fifty yards distant. At first they became aware of a whizzing or rushing noise in the air, immediately followed by the sudden blow of a body striking the ground near. The hole, 11 inches deep, which the stone made was found directly after, and the stone was extracted.
Many other examples might be given, but the above will be sufficient for our purpose. Records of this nature were discredited in former times; but more modern researches have long since placed their reality beyond all question. The fall of stones from the sky is no longer regarded as a mere legendary tale, but as one of the well-assured operations of nature.
Meteoric stones and irons have been classified according to the ingredients of their composition. Those in which iron is found in considerable amount are termed siderites, those containing an admixture of iron and stone, siderolites, and those consisting almost entirely of stone are known as aerolites. The siderite which fell in Shropshire on April 20, 1876, forms only the seventh recorded instance where a mass of meteoric iron has been actually seen to fall.
Fireballs.—The table on p. 268 gives the dates, heights, &c. of fifteen fireballs observed during the last quarter of a century.
Fireballs are sometimes detonating, though more often silent. The fireball of Nov. 23, 1877, gave a sound like salvoes of artillery, and doors and windows were shaken violently. At Chester the noise of its explosion was compared to loud but distant thunder. Lieut.-Col. Tupman says that “thunder, to be loud, must be within five miles; hence it appears that the violence of the explosion must have been at least a hundred times greater than a peal of thunder, the intensity of sound-waves diminishing as the square of the distance.” “The explosion of a 13-inch bomb-shell, consisting of some 200 lb. of iron, would not have produced a sound of one hundredth part of the intensity of the meteor-explosion.” This fireball must therefore have been an object of considerable mass before its dissolution; and it is fortunate that such bodies are usually destroyed by the effects of combustion before they reach the Earth’s surface.
These phenomena exhibit many varieties of appearance.
| Date of Apparition. | G.M.T. | Height. | Real Length of Path. | Velo- city. | Radiant- Point. | Authority. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At Ap- pearance. | At Disap- pearance. | R.A. | Dec. | |||||
| h m | miles. | miles. | miles. | miles. | ° | ° | ||
| 1865, April 29 | 12 42 | 52 | 37 | 75 | 20 | 73 | +47 | A. S. Herschel. |
| 1868, Sept. 5 | 8 5 | 250 | 85 | 1200 | 28 | 14 | -2 | G. von Niessl. |
| 1869, Nov. 6 | 6 50 | 90 | 27 | 170 | 35 | 62 | +37 | A. S. Herschel. |
| 1872, July 22 | 8 55 | 77 | 37 | 88 | 246 | -11 | T. H. Waller. | |
| 1874, Aug. 10 | 11 53 | 77 | 33 | 105 | 17 | 325 | -17 | W. H. Wood. |
| 1875, Sept. 3 | 9 55 | 75 | 40 | 35 | 27 | 311 | +52 | G. L. Tupman. |
| 1875, Sept. 14 | 8 28 | 52 | 13 | 104 | 13 | 348 | -0 | G. L. Tupman. |
| 1876, Sept. 24 | 6 30 | 58 | 16 | 45 | 15 | 285 | +35 | A. S. Herschel. |
| 1877, Nov. 23 | 8 25 | 95 | 14 | 135 | 17½ | 62 | +21 | G. L. Tupman. |
| 1878, June 7 | 9 53 | 65 | 37 | 160 | 19 | 247 | -25 | A. S. Herschel. |
| 1879, Feb. 23 | 14 53 | 60 | 7 | 102 | 14½ | 310 | +55 | J. E. Clark. |
| 1886, Nov. 17 | 7 18 | 96 | 21 | 123 | 17½ | 34 | +19 | W. F. Denning. |
| 1887, May 8 | 8 22 | 70 | 14 | 110 | 18 | 191 | -5 | W. F. Denning. |
| 1888, Aug. 13 | 11 33 | 78 | 47 | 46 | 43 | +56 | W. F. Denning. | |
| 1889, May 29 | 10 44 | 58 | 23 | 76 | 8½ | 216 | 7 | D. Booth. |
