In order to understand what really took place on October 8-9, 1871, we need to examine events leading up to the simultaneous fires in Chicago, Peshtigo, and the entire Central portion of Michigan (from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron).

A short period comet was first discovered and documented in 1772 by Montaigne in France. The third discovery was made by Wilhelm von Biela in February 1826, for whom the comet was subsequently named (Biela).

After returning faithfully every 6 years, it was discovered to have split into two nuclei in mid-January of 1846. The dual-nucleus comet was last seen in 1866. The comet's expected return in 1872 never happened -- the comet completely vanished; in its place were intense meteor displays (15,000 per hour). All that remains today is the annual Andromedid meteor shower in November.

So what happened to the Comet Biela, and what links it to the Great Fires? First of all, the cyclic path of the comet was never the same. The orbit of Biela took it close enough to Jupiter to gradually change its path. During the 1845-46 cycle, the comet impacted asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, breaking it into two distinct pieces. Asteroid debris knocked out of normal orbit began to follow & precede Biela in its (6-year cyclic) orbit.

Subsequent cometary cycles continued to encounter asteroid collisions until the comet was completely disintegrated in the 1866-1872 cycle.

Email Ken Rieli: krieli@up.net