# Meteor procession

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A **meteor procession** occurs when an [Earth-grazing meteor](/source/Earth-grazing_fireball) breaks apart, and the fragments travel across the sky in the same path. According to physicist [Donald Olson](/source/Donald_Olson_(astronomer)), only four occurrences are known:[1]

- 18 August [1783 Great Meteor](/source/1783_Great_Meteor)[1][2] (Passed over [Blair Atholl](/source/Blair_Atholl), the east coast of southern Scotland and England and the English Channel, breaking up over southern France or northern Italy).[3]
- 20 July [1860 Great Meteor](/source/1860_Great_Meteor); sighted over North America, believed by Olson to be the event referred to in [Walt Whitman](/source/Walt_Whitman)'s poem *Year of Meteors, 1859–60*[4][5]
- 21 December 1876 Great Meteor; sighted over Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania[6][7][8]
- 9 February [1913 Great Meteor Procession](/source/1913_Great_Meteor_Procession); a chain of slow, large meteors moving from northwest to southeast, sighted over North America, particularly in Canada, the North Atlantic and the Tropical South Atlantic

## References

1. Falk, Dan (1 June 2010). ["Forensic astronomer solves Walt Whitman mystery: CultureLab (blog)"](https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/06/the-forensic-astronomer-donald-olson.php). *[New Scientist](/source/New_Scientist)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160321111745/https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/06/the-forensic-astronomer-donald-olson.php) 21 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2023.

1. ["Notes and Queries"](https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1914JRASC...8..221.). *[Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada](/source/Journal_of_the_Royal_Astronomical_Society_of_Canada)*. **8**: 221–222. June 1914. [Bibcode:1914JRASC...8..221.](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1914JRASC...8..221.) Retrieved 8 February 2023.

1. Beech, M. (1989). "The Great Meteor of 18 August 1783". *[Journal of the British Astronomical Association](/source/Journal_of_the_British_Astronomical_Association)*. **99** (3): 103. [Bibcode:1989JBAA...99..130B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1989JBAA...99..130B)

1. ["Forensic astronomer solves Walt Whitman mystery"](https://www.newscientist.com/gallery/whitman-mystery-solved/). *[New Scientist](/source/New_Scientist)*. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2023.

1. ["150-year-old meteor mystery solved"](http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/06/02/4448882-150-year-old-meteor-mystery-solved). [MSNBC](/source/MSNBC). 2 June 2010. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100605014144/http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/06/02/4448882-150-year-old-meteor-mystery-solved) 5 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 February 2023.

1. Herschel, Alexander Stewart (1878). ["Observations of luminous meteors"](https://archive.org/stream/reportannualmee05sciegoog#page/n256/mode/2up). *Report of the forty-seventh meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science: Held at Plymouth in August 1877*. [John Murray](/source/John_Murray_(publishing_house)). pp. 149–153.

1. MARK BOSTICK (2006-02-18). ["Rochester Meteorite - NPA 12-22-1876 - Decatur, Il."](http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com/2006/feb/0582.html). *www.meteorite-list-archives.com*. Retrieved 18 August 2025.

1. ["THE METEOR"](https://www.nytimes.com/1876/12/28/archives/the-meteor.html). *www.nytimes.com*. 1876-12-28. Retrieved 18 August 2025.

## External links

- [Meteors, Meteoroids, and Meteorites](http://cseligman.com/text/meteors/meteors.htm)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Meteor procession](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_procession) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_procession?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.