Saturday Scenes

On the 7th of November 1492, a meteorite crashed into a wheat field in Alsace. It is the oldest meteorite with a known date of impact. You can see the surviving piece (123 pounds) at the old city hall in Ensisheim still.

Ensisheim Meteorite

Shortly before noon on November 7th, 1492 a loud explosion was heard by hundreds of people along the Rhine River within a circle with a radius of 80 miles centered in the walled village of Ensisheim, Alsace. The sole witness to the cause of this thunderous noise was a young boy who reported seeing a large stone fall from the sky and bury itself in a hole five feet deep in a wheat field near the road that ran from Ensisheim south to Battenheim. He ran to town where he told his tale to a group of villagers who followed him to the field where with great effort they removed a 280 pound stone from the small crater.

One of the interesting things about this is that we have a contemporary account as well as woodcut of the scene.

A Contemporary Account of the Ensisheim Meteorite, 1492

At this point there has to be mention of the immense portent which was seen this year in Germany: for on the seventh day of November, near the city of Ensisheim and the village of Battenheim above Basel, a great stone fell out of the sky, triangular in shape, charred, the color of a metallic ore, and accompanied by crashing thunder and lightning. When it had fallen to earth it split into several pieces, for it had traveled at an oblique angle; to the amazement of all, indeed, it flattened the earth when it struck.

On the seventh day of November 2009, we created a great historical collection of our own, using the modern-day equivalent of a woodcut. Take a look!

Hey you guys, I’ve made a list! A special SatScenes list of all of our contributors. I’m updating it week by week, so it’s starting with these lucky early-birds:

• RAFAirman
• Pewari
• akrabat
• Robdavies
• akaSylvia
• tradingnothing
• Pixelfreund
• elibrody
• NevilleFenn
• Neal55
• raumsinn
• carocat
• vaxanta

If you’d like to be added to the Saturday Scenes list, be sure to send a photograph next Saturday and take part!

It’s easy:

1. Take a photograph on a Saturday
2. Send it to @SatScenes on Twitter
3. Wait for the webpage to get updated
4. Oooh and aah over all the great submissions from all over the world!

We can’t wait to see yours.