1850 METEOR! - HAMPSTEAD HEATH - 2013

The night became calm and clear, with a few clouds on the horizon, and the stars shone with remarkable brightness. At a little before eleven o'clock I was struck by the appearance of a brilliant light resembling a continuing gleam of lightning but which, on looking up, I perceived to proceed from an elongated luminous ball, falling rapidly from the zenith to the eastern horizon.

It appeared like a mass of molten metal, but a little smaller than the moon's disc, and comparatively at a short distance from my place of observation.

The light given off was intense, and rendered the whole landscape distinctly visible. When approaching the earth it seemed to burst, but without noise. A shower of luminous fragments, like red-hot stones, was discharged, or rather fell through, but were soon extinguished. The whole phenomenon was visible, as far as I could judge, for about sixty seconds.

In general appearance it more resembled what is usually understood as a meteor, but its magnitude and apparent nearness was remarkable. Had it, however, exploded with detonation, I should have supposed it to be a aerolite.

I was an eye-witness of a splendid meteor on the night of Monday, the 11th inst., at twenty minutes to eleven o'clock. It first appeared like a star, about four times as large as Venus, with a dull golden lustre, and rapidly increased in brightness till it became a white light, resembling an immense diamond, and put forth a tail like a waving blade of red flame; as it proceeded, the tail either disappeared or was lost in the increased brightness of the head, which at last shone so brilliantly as to light up the whole atmosphere -  the light certainly far exceeded that of the full moon; it then became suddenly extinguished.

It evidently displayed the process of combustion. I first saw it somewhere a little above the Pleiades, and it descended obliquely towards the north, and disappeared about the lower part of  Cassiopeia. I think its greatest length was about 2o; the length of its visible path about 15o or 20o; and the time it was visible three or four seconds.

I thought the last I saw of the meteor as the light vanished was a red spot, but it disappeared instantaneously.

I looked round at the clock directly it had disappeared and it was exactly twenty minutes to eleven.

Aurora Borealis, Hampstead Heath, Pictorial News, 1847 ~

This magnificent phenomenon displayed itself on Sunday night last in a most remarkable manner.

It was visible from all parts of the metropolis and suburbs, but was seen to the best advantage from the tops of Hampstead Hill, near South End Green, from which spot our illustration was taken.

The rays of light commenced in the north-eastern part of the horizon, shooting up in sheets of vivid flame, gradually assuming a pale hue and then falling away into a deep scarlet.