Editing Meteor (section)

== History ==
Meteors were not known to be an astronomical phenomenon until early in the nineteenth century. Before that, they were seen in the West as an atmospheric phenomenon, like lightning, and were not connected with strange stories of rocks falling from the sky. In 1807, [[Yale University]] chemistry professor [[Benjamin Silliman]] investigated a [[meteorite]] that fell in [[Weston meteorite|Weston, Connecticut]].<ref name="jefferson">{{cite web |last=Taibi |first=Richard |url=http://www.amsmeteors.org/about/ams-history/the-early-years-of-meteor-observations-in-the-usa/ |title=The Early Years of Meteor Observations in the USA |publisher=American Meteor Society }}</ref> Silliman believed the meteor had a cosmic origin, but meteors did not attract much attention from astronomers until the spectacular meteor storm of November 1833.<ref name="1833leonids">{{cite web |url=http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/leonidhis.html |publisher=Meteorshowers Online |title=The Leonids and the Birth of Meteor Astronomy |first=Gary W. |last=Kronk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122195546/http://meteorshowersonline.com/showers/leonidhis.html |archive-date=January 22, 2009 }}</ref> People all across the eastern United States saw thousands of meteors, radiating from a single point in the sky. Careful observers noticed that [[Radiant (meteor shower)|the radiant]], as the point is called, moved with the stars, staying in the constellation Leo.<ref name="AJSA-1834">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HjcPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA407 |journal=The American Journal of Science and Arts |volume=XXV |date=January 1834 |title=On the Meteors of Nov. 13, 1833 |first=Edward |last=Hitchcock }}</ref>

The astronomer [[Denison Olmsted]] extensively studied this storm, concluding that it had a cosmic origin. After reviewing historical records, [[Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers]] predicted the storm's return in 1867, drawing other astronomers' attention to the phenomenon. [[Hubert Anson Newton|Hubert A. Newton]]'s more thorough historical work led to a refined prediction of 1866, which proved correct.<ref name="1833leonids" /> With [[Giovanni Schiaparelli]]'s success in connecting the [[Leonids]] (as they are called) with comet [[Tempel-Tuttle]], the cosmic origin of meteors was firmly established. Still, they remain an atmospheric phenomenon and retain their name "meteor" from the Greek word for "atmospheric".<ref name="AP-318">{{cite web|url=http://astroprofspage.com/archives/318 |publisher=Astro Prof |title=October's Orionid Meteors |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030333/http://astroprofspage.com/archives/318 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref>