The Great Meteor Procession of 1913 traced a ground track exceeding 11,000 km and led astronomers to theorize Earth once briefly captured a natural satellite.
Key Facts
- Date
- February 9, 1913
- Ground track length
- Over 11,000 km (7,000 miles)
- Observed regions
- Canada, northeastern USA, Bermuda, ships to Brazil
- Lead analyst
- Astronomer Clarence Chant
- Alternative name
- Cyrillids (proposed by John A. O'Keefe)
- Apparent radiant
- None detected — highly unusual for a meteor event
Cause → Event → Consequence
The meteors are theorized to have originated from a small, short-lived temporary satellite of the Earth. The lack of any apparent radiant — the sky point from which meteors normally seem to diverge — distinguished this event from typical meteor showers and pointed toward an Earth-orbiting source rather than interplanetary debris.
On February 9, 1913, a prolonged procession of meteors was observed across Canada, the northeastern United States, Bermuda, and by ships as far south as Brazil. The objects followed a great circle arc across the sky without any identifiable radiant point, making them visually distinctive and scientifically anomalous. The total recorded ground track exceeded 11,000 km.
Astronomer Clarence Chant analyzed the observations and concluded the meteors derived from a temporary natural Earth satellite. John A. O'Keefe later proposed the name 'Cyrillids' after the feast day of Cyril of Alexandria. The event remains a notable case study in discussions of temporary Earth-captured objects and unusual meteor phenomena.