Talk:1783 Great Meteor

A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on August 18, 2012, August 18, 2016, and August 18, 2021.

How many meteors?[edit]

Gilbert White talks about 1783 meteors (plural). So, was it only this one, or where there indeed several? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.166.81.234 (talk) 11:11, 8 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Inconsistent information[edit]

The "Observations" section says the sound of the meteor arrived at Windsor Castle about 10 minutes (600 seconds) after it was observed, while the "Possible relation to meteorite falls" section describes fragments of a meteor found in North Yorkshire, which is only about 200 miles distant. The propagation time of the sound would place the meteor 1800 kilometers (1100 statute miles) from the observer, based on a rough number of 3 seconds per kilometer for sound in air. While the Hambleton Pallasite information is interesting, it should be pointed out that it could in no way have been related to the 1783 Great Meteor. — 174.87.179.155 (talk) 17:12, 18 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

10 minutes at 340 m/s (at 15 °C) gives 204 kilometers which fits pretty good with the 200 miles (322 km), as the explosion (200 km) could easily come long before the impacts on the ground (320 km). (https://www.google.com/search?q=10+minutes+*+(340+m%2Fs), also https://www.google.com/search?q=10+minutes+*+speed+of+sound). --Jhertel (talk) 00:06, 19 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You are correct. My error. I must have hit the multiply key on my calculator instead of the divide key. — 174.87.179.155 (talk) 13:44, 26 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]