 Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900) 'The Meteor,' 1860-61, oil on paper laid to canvas, 10 3/8 x 17 7/8 in. (26.6 x 43.2cm), Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, The Dorothy Clark Archibald and Thomas L. Archibald Fund & The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 2025.3.1 | |
| Date | July 20, 1860 (1860-07-20) |
|---|---|
| Location | United States |
The1860 Great Meteor procession occurred on July 20, 1860. It was an extremely raremeteoric phenomenon reported from locations across theUnited States.[1][2]
American landscape painterFrederic Church saw and painted a spectacular string of fireballmeteors across theCatskill evening sky, an extremely rareEarth-grazingmeteor procession.[3][4] The painting now belongs to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, Frederic Church's birthplace. It is believed that this was the event referred to in the poemYear of Meteors, 1859-60, byWalt Whitman.[5][6] In 2010, 150 years later, it was determined to be an Earth-grazing meteor procession.[7]
