* Astronomy

The first recorded meteorite in Virginia fell June 4, 1828 about 9 A.M. The first account was given by James Hartwell Cócke in the form of a letter written from Bremo Bluff, Fluvanna County, August 4, 1828 to the editor of the American Journal of Science (or Silliman's Journal at that time). Cócke's account follows:

"The fact that stones have fallen from the atmosphere is now universally admitted by men of science, but as there may still be some persons not acquainted with the evidence who may entertain doubts on the subject it may not be amiss to make known facts connected with an instance of this sort that occurred in Chesterfield County, Virginia about 7 miles southwest of Richmond, on the 4th of June last - this case is as well attested as any of the kind I ever recollect to have heard of.

"Being in Richmond at the time of hearing of the fall, I made some inquiry and obtained a piece of the stone about the size of a pigeon's egg. This resembled so much the only specimen of a meteoric stone I had ever seen that my anxiety to see the whole stone and to learn the facts relating to its fall was increased. It was very much like a fragment in your cabinet which was part of a stone that fell in Connecticut many years ago, an account of which is published in the American edition of Ree's Cyclopedia. After some inquiry I obtained the greater part of the stone weighing 3 pounds 3 ounces avoirdupois. Most of the exterior is of a dark-grey colour, about one-third is covered with a black crust. The fracture is granular and of a light grey, interspersed with white metallic points which yield easily to the knife. For several days after the stone was taken from the earth it retained a strong scent of sulphur. The exterior exhibited several cavities from the size of a pea to that of a mustard seed; many of these are filled with earth and with fibres of the turf through which it passed on striking the earth. The whole stone, when entire, was said to have weighed 4 pounds. Its form is nearly spheroidal and its specific gravity about 4.

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