The Meteor of 1860 by Frederic Church
Courtesy: Judith Filenbaum Hernstadt (painting photographed by Gerald L. Carr)
Posted on 07/22/2010 10:54:27 AM PDT by sig226
Explanation: Frederic Church (1826-1900), American landscape painter of the Hudson River School, painted what he saw in nature. And on July 20th, 1860, he saw a spectacular string of fireball meteors cross the Catskill evening sky, an extremely rare Earth-grazing meteor procession. From New York City, poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) also wrote of the "... strange huge meteor procession, dazzling and clear, shooting over our heads" in his poem Year of Meteors (1859-60). But the inspiration for Whitman's words was forgotten. His astronomical reference became a mystery, the subject of scholarly debate until Texas State University physicists Donald Olson and Russell Doescher, English professor Marilynn Olson, and Honors Program student Ava Pope, located reports documenting the date and timing of the spectacular meteor procession. The breakthrough was spotting the connection with Church's relatively little-known painting. Fittingly, the forensic astronomy team's work was just published, on the 150th anniversary of the cosmic event that inspired both poet and painter.
Beautiful
Perfect. Stolen!
Beautiful!
There are some really nice paintings from the Hudson river School, but this is the first time I have seen that one.
All that painting needs is Looter Guy in the water and the photogenic squirrel.
Pretty. Reminds me of “Catch a Falling Star”.
...on July 20th, 1860, he saw a spectacular string of fireball meteors cross the Catskill evening sky, an extremely rare Earth-grazing meteor procession... Texas State University physicists Donald Olson and Russell Doescher, English professor Marilynn Olson, and Honors Program student Ava Pope, located reports documenting the date and timing of the spectacular meteor procession... spotting the connection with Church's relatively little-known painting. Fittingly, the forensic astronomy team's work was just published, on the 150th anniversary of the cosmic event that inspired both poet and painter.
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