noon
M. Tissot , the astronomer , had , at half-past ten the previous night , observed through the 40-inch telescope of the Nice observatory a body which seemed a tiny planet or aerolite of abnormal size . It was sighted at a point two degrees W. of _ a _ Librae at an angle of 43 1/2 ° with the horizon , and had been photographed , its elements calculated , its spectrum taken . The ascertained diameter was 3 ° 17 '' , or about 73 miles , and its substance seemed to consist of ironstone mixed with diamond . By noon a fresh light was thrown upon the little world , the Yerkes observatory and Greenwich both uttering their voice , the Astronomer Royal announcing that the so-called planet was merely a meteor -- not more than 400 yards in diameter , with a low velocity of two miles a second ; and its distance was less than a tenth of that estimated by Tissot . The Yerkes observatory fixed the diameter at 230 yards . All , however , agreed in the opinion that it must strike the earth between ten and twelve that night . These later announcements so much allayed the panic , that by one o'clock Hogarth , on peeping into the note-book on the box before the smithy , saw six signatures ; and a young man who came about six P.M. to sign , cried out : `` Hullo !