Science Art: Fall des Meteors am 9 Juni 1866, by Wilhelm Ritter von Haidinger

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Wilhelm Ritter von Haidinger was an Austrian mineralogist who during his career helped mining engineers dig better mines and looked at rocks that looked like other rocks – he specialized in “pseudomorphosis,” when one mineral takes on the aspect of another. In his retirement, von Haidinger studied meteorites, and painted what happened when a giant rock blazed across the sky and broke apart above the Ukrainian city of Knyahinya. Around 500 kilograms – about half a ton – of space rocks were recovered from the meteor fall site. The largest chunk weighed 279 kg.

I found the image in Public Domain Review’s “Flowers of the Sky” collection.