Evidence of Eta Aquariid Outbursts Recorded in the Classic Maya Hieroglyphic Script Using Orbital Integrations

TL;DR

This study uses orbital integrations to identify potential meteor shower outbursts during the Maya Classic Period and correlates them with hieroglyphic records, providing evidence that ancient Maya documented meteor events.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates that Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions may contain records of meteor outbursts, validated through orbital modeling of Comet Halley's meteoroids over centuries.

Findings

Identified potential Eta Aquariid outbursts in Maya records

Validated model explains historical outbursts in Chinese records

Resonant behavior influences meteoroid stream dynamics

Abstract

No firm evidence has existed that the ancient Maya civilization recorded specific occurrences of meteor showers or outbursts in the corpus of Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions. In fact, there has been no evidence of any pre-Hispanic civilization in the Western Hemisphere recording any observations of any meteor showers on any specific dates. The authors numerically integrated meteoroid-sized particles released by Comet Halley as early as 1404 BC to identify years within the Maya Classic Period, AD 250-909, when Eta Aquariid outbursts might have occurred. Outbursts determined by computer model were then compared to specific events in the Maya record to see if any correlation existed between the date of the event and the date of the outburst. The model was validated by successfully explaining several outbursts around the same epoch in the Chinese record. Some outbursts observed by the Maya were due to recent revolutions of Comet Halley, within a few centuries, and some to resonant behavior in older Halley trails, of the order of a thousand years. Examples were found of several different Jovian mean motion resonances as well as the 1:3 Saturnian resonance that have controlled the dynamical evolution of meteoroids in apparently observed outbursts.